Agendas, reports and minutes

Minutes of Meeting of the Planning Review Body held in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Tuesday, 5 February 2019 at 10.30 am. 

Present:

Mr G Adam
Mr R Balfour
Mr R Bremner (by video-conferencing)
Mrs I Campbell (excluding items 5.5 and 5.6)
Mr L Fraser (items 5.3 and 5.4 only)
Mr A Henderson (excluding item 5.6)
Mr W Mackay (excluding item 5.2)
Mrs M Paterson
Mrs T Robertson

In Attendance:

Mrs K Lyons, Solicitor/Clerk
Mr M McLoughlin, Independent Planning Adviser to the Planning Review Body
Mr S Taylor, Administrative Assistant

Mr A Henderson in the Chair (items 1 – 5.5)
Mrs T Robertson in the Chair (item 5.6)

Preliminaries

The Chair confirmed that the meeting would be webcast, and gave a short briefing on the Council’s webcasting procedure and protocol.

The Chair welcomed Mr M McLoughlin to his first meeting as Independent Planning Adviser to the Planning Review Body.

Business

1. Apologies for Absence

None.

2. Declarations of Interest

Item 5.2 – Mr W MacKay (non-financial)

3.  Minutes of Previous Meeting of 13 November 2018

The Minutes of the previous Meeting held on 13 November 2018, copies of which had been circulated, were APPROVED.

4. Criteria for Determination of Notices of Review

The Clerk confirmed that, for all subsequent items on the agenda, Members had contained in their USB Flash Drives all of the information supplied by all parties to the Notice of Review – namely everything submitted at the planning application stage and the Notice of Review stage from the applicant and interested parties together with the case officer’s report on handling and the decision notice that had been issued. When new information had been identified and responded to by the case officer, that information had also been included on the USB stick.

Members were reminded that when determining each planning application subject to a Notice of Review, they were to give full consideration of the planning application afresh (also known as the “de novo” approach) in accordance with the advice contained in the letter from the Chief Planner dated 29 July 2011. The Clerk confirmed that this meant that, in each Notice of Review case, the Review Body needed to assess the planning application against the development plan and decide whether it accorded with or was contrary to the development plan.   Following this assessment, the Review Body then required to consider all material considerations relevant to the application and decide whether these added to or outweighed their assessment of the application against the development plan. In carrying out this assessment, all documents lodged by the applicant and interested parties needed to be considered by the Review Body – all material planning considerations required to be taken into account; considerations that were not material planning considerations must not be taken into account.

The Clerk also confirmed that Google Earth and Streetview could be used during the meeting in order to inform Members of the site location; Members were reminded of the potential limitations of using these systems in that images may have been captured a number of years ago and may not reflect the current position on the ground.  All the Notices of Review were competent.

5. New Notices of Review to be Determined

5.1 Erection of House on Land 45M SE of Lower Clashandorran, Beauly – Mr Michael Gray, 18/01657/PIP, 18/00063/RBREF, (RB-01-19)

There had been circulated Notice of Review 18/00063/RBREF for the erection of a house on Land 45M SE of Lower Clashandorran, Beauly for Mr M Gray.

Preliminaries

Having NOTED the Clerk’s confirmation that this was a valid and competent Notice of Review, and her advice with regard to the way the Review should be determined (item 4 above refers), the Review Body discussed whether its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives, no further procedure having been requested by the applicant.

Members requested sight of Google Earth and Streetview to inform their understanding of the application site.  The Independent Planning Adviser provided this.

Thereafter, the Review Body AGREED that its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives and the Google Earth/Streetview presentation.

Debate

Having considered the supporting paperwork and the Google Earth/Streetview presentation, the Planning Review Body discussed the Notice of Review.

During discussion, comments included the following:-

• Members expressed contrasting views to those contained within the case officer’s reasons for refusal;
• The proposed house would tidy the area;
• There was an existing house located on the site and therefore if a house was required for land management the existing house should be demolished and replaced if it was uneconomically viable to renovate;
• The applicant had put forward a proposal to renovate the existing house for holiday letting purposes and it should be retained to allow for this;
• The operational needs assessment justified a new house as being essential for land management;
• Having a house on site for land management was fundamental and it needed to meet his requirements for accommodation;
• The footprint of the existing house might not be suitable in terms of its size for a second house;
• The applicant was of the view that the proposed development was required to work the land;
• There should be a presumption in favour of developments of the type proposed;
• There was support for the granting of planning permission for a new house and the retention of the existing house for future renovation;
• Individuals going into crofting were not expected to make a living from it; and
• It was considered vandalism to demand that the existing house be demolished.

No consensus having been reached between the Members, the Chair, seconded by the Vice-Chair, moved that the Notice of Review be DISMISSED on the grounds as set out in the appointed officer’s decision notice.

As an amendment, Mr G Adam, seconded by Mrs M Paterson, moved that the Notice of Review be APPROVED for the following reasons:-

• It was considered that the operational needs assessment submitted in support of the application justified a new house as being essential for land management purposes related to the management of the land. Members were satisfied that the engineer’s report indicated that renovation of the existing house was not economically viable, however, in approving the Notice of Review, Members were not minded to require demolition of the existing house to be secured by condition.

There being no further amendments, the matter was put to the vote with votes being cast as follows:

Motion (2): Mr A Henderson and Mrs T Robertson

Amendment (6): Mr G Adam, Mr R Balfour, Mr R Bremner, Mrs I Campbell, Mr W MacKay and Mrs M Paterson

Abstentions (0)

Decision

The Review Body APPROVED the Notice of Review for the reasons stated, subject to conditions to be drafted by the Independent Planning Adviser and approved by the Chair.

5.2 Erection of a wind turbine with a tip height of 99.5m and a maximum rotor diameter of 70m, associated crane hardstanding, site access road and electrical control building on Land 200M N of, 3 Lybster Road, Forss, Thurso - Whirlwind Renewables, 17/04934/FUL, 18/00064/RBREF (RB-02-19)

Declaration of Interest – Mr W MacKay declared a non-financial interest in this item on the grounds that he knew the landowner and left the Chamber for the duration of this item.

There had been circulated Notice of Review 18/00064/RBREF for the erection of a wind turbine with a tip height of 99.5m and a maximum rotor diameter of 70m, associated crane hardstanding, site access road and electrical control building on Land 200M N of, 3 Lybster Road, Forss, Thurso for Whirlwind Renewables.

Preliminaries

Having NOTED the Clerk’s confirmation that this was a valid and competent Notice of Review, and her advice with regard to the way the Review should be determined (item 4 above refers), the Review Body discussed whether its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives, no further procedure having been requested by the applicant.

Members requested sight of Google Earth and Streetview to inform their understanding of the application site.  The Independent Planning Adviser provided this.

Decision 

Following discussion, the Review Body AGREED to DEFER consideration of the Notice of Review to request further information from the applicant, namely visualisations including a photo montage and wireframe/wireline image from the curtilage from the closest dwelling (3 Lybster Road, Forss, Thurso) in order that Members could establish if there would be an overwhelming visual impact from the development. Interested parties and the case officer would be given the opportunity to respond to the information lodged by the applicant and report back to the next appropriate meeting of the Planning Review Body.

The Review Body NOTED that, as some discussion of the Notice of Review had taken place, only those Members present during this item (Mr G Adam, Mr R Balfour, Mr R Bremner, Mrs I Campbell, Mr A Henderson, Mrs M Paterson and Mrs T Robertson) would be able to participate when the Notice of Review was brought back to the Review Body.

Mr W MacKay returned to the meeting.

5.3 Erection of House on Land 75M East of Birchwood, 1 Broallan, Beauly - Mr and Mrs Kevin & Sonia Mackay, 18/04059/FUL, 18/00065/RBREF (RB-03-19)

There had been circulated Notice of Review 18/00065/RBREF for the erection of a house on Land 75M East of Birchwood, 1 Broallan, Beauly for Mr and Mrs Kevin & Sonia Mackay.

Preliminaries

Having NOTED the Clerk’s confirmation that this was a valid and competent Notice of Review, and her advice with regard to the way the Review should be determined (item 4 above refers), the Review Body discussed whether its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives, no further procedure having been requested by the applicant.

Members requested sight of Google Earth and Streetview to inform their understanding of the application site.  The Independent Planning Adviser provided this.

Thereafter, the Review Body AGREED that its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives and the Google Earth/Streetview presentation.

Debate

Having considered the supporting paperwork and the Google Earth/Streetview presentation, the Planning Review Body discussed the Notice of Review.

During discussion, Members’ comments included the following:-

• Concern was expressed regarding the detrimental impact the proposed development could have on the scenic quality and landscape characteristics of the surrounding area;
• Contrasting views were expressed as to whether the proposed development could be considered to form an infill or rounding off of an existing housing group;
• Rural properties were not normally built hard against boundaries or on top of each other;
• The applicant was keen to plant further trees on the land and this could also serve to mitigate the visual impact of the proposed house on neighbouring properties;
• The proposed development could be considered to be in keeping with the character of the surrounding environment;
• The view was expressed that the proposed development would not detract from the rural character of the area as there were already some houses which might not be considered linear development; and
• Whilst some Members were supportive of the proposed development, they failed to identify any reasons the Notice of Review met the exceptions to policies referred to in the case officer’s reasons for refusal.

Decision 

The Review Body DISMISSED the Notice of Review and refused planning permission for the reasons given by the case officer in the decision notice

5.4 Change of use of property to form two self-catering flats plus Bed & Breakfast accommodation, including internal and external alterations, new dormers and windows/doors at The Pier House, Liveras, Broadford, Isle of Skye - Mrs Eilidh McNiven, 18/00800/FUL, 18/00062/RBREF (RB-04-19)=

There had been circulated Notice of Review 18/00062/RBREF for a change of use of property to form two self-catering flats plus Bed & Breakfast accommodation, including internal and external alterations, new dormers and windows/doors at The Pier House, Liveras, Broadford, Isle of Skye for Mrs Eilidh McNiven.

Preliminaries

Having NOTED the Clerk’s confirmation that this was a valid and competent Notice of Review, and her advice with regard to the way the Review should be determined (item 4 above refers), the Review Body discussed whether its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives, no further procedure having been requested by the applicant.

Members requested sight of Google Earth and Streetview to inform their understanding of the application site.  The Independent Planning Adviser provided this.

Thereafter, the Review Body AGREED that its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives and the Google Earth/Streetview presentation.

Debate

Having considered the supporting paperwork and the Google Earth/Streetview presentation, the Planning Review Body discussed the Notice of Review.

During discussion, Members’ comments included the following:-

• The current condition of the property was highlighted and the view expressed that the Council was putting obstacles in front of the applicants preventing them from redeveloping it;
• The buildings were not listed. Any issues raised regarding changes to the traditional appearance of the building could be conditioned;
• The use of aluminium window frames in the proposed development would not detract from the overall appearance of the building; and
• The proposed works to the windows and doors were considered to be an improvement on the existing less sympathetic earlier works.

Decision

Following discussion, the Review Body APPROVED the Notice of Review, subject to conditions to be drafted by the Independent Planning Adviser in consultation with the Chair, for the following reasons:-

• Members considered the proposed change of use to be acceptable and the proposed works to the windows and doors to be complementary improvement works which would have the effect of removing less sympathetic earlier works. While modern in design and materials, any detraction would be offset by the building being brought back into beneficial use. For these reasons Members considered the application to accord with Policies 28, 29 and 57 of the Highland-wide Local Development Plan.

5.5 Demolition of farm building and formation of house plot at Wester Lochloy Farm, Nairn, IV12 5LE - Mr G Milliken, 18/03308/PIP, 18/00060/RBREF (RB-05-19)

Declaration of Interest – Mr L Fraser declared a non-financial interest in this item on the grounds that he was one of the local Members for Ward 18 – Nairn and Cawdor, and therefore not permitted to participate in the determination of the Notice of Review.  Mr Fraser left the Chamber for the remainder of the meeting.

There had been circulated Notice of Review 18/00060/RBREF for the demolition of a farm building and the formation of house plot at Wester Lochloy Farm, Nairn, IV12 5LE for Mr G Milliken.

Preliminaries

Having NOTED the Clerk’s confirmation that this was a valid and competent Notice of Review, and her advice with regard to the way the Review should be determined (item 4 above refers), the Review Body discussed whether its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives, no further procedure having been requested by the applicant.

Members requested sight of Google Earth and Streetview to inform their understanding of the application site.  The Independent Planning Adviser provided this.

Thereafter, the Review Body AGREED that its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives and the Google Earth/Streetview presentation.

Debate

Having considered the supporting paperwork and the Google Earth/Streetview presentation, the Planning Review Body discussed the Notice of Review.

No consensus having been reached between the Members, Mrs M Paterson, seconded by Mr W MacKay, moved that the Notice of Review be APPROVED for the following reasons:-

• It was considered that the application accorded with exception 6 to Policy 35 of the Highland-wide Local Development Plan, namely the proposed development involved the redevelopment of derelict land where a return to a natural state would not be readily achievable and where wider environmental benefit would be achieved through the removal of a redundant building.

As an amendment, the Chair, seconded by the Vice-Chair, moved that the Notice of Review be DISMISSED on the grounds as set out in the appointed officer’s decision notice.

There being no further amendments, the matter was put to the vote with votes being cast as follows:

Motion (4): Mr R Balfour, Mr R Bremner, Mr W MacKay and Mrs M Paterson

Amendment (3): Mr G Adam, Mr A Henderson and Mrs T Robertson

Abstentions (0)

Decision

The Review Body APPROVED the Notice of Review for the reasons stated, subject to conditions to be drafted by the Independent Planning Adviser and approved by the Chair.

5.6 Erection of house on Land 35M SE of MacEachen and Carr Boat Builders, Toigal, Morar - Mr and Mrs G Shepherd, 17/05866/PIP, 18/00059/RBREF (RB-06-19)

Declaration of Interest – Mr A Henderson declared a non-financial interest in this item on the grounds that he was one of the local Members for Ward 11 – Caol and Mallaig, and therefore not permitted to participate in the determination of the Notice of Review.  Mr Henderson left the Chamber for the remainder of the meeting.

There had been circulated Notice of Review 18/00059/RBREF for the erection of a house on land 35M SE of MacEachen and Carr Boat Builders, Toigal, Morar for Mr and Mrs G Shepherd.

Preliminaries

Having NOTED the Clerk’s confirmation that this was a valid and competent Notice of Review, and her advice with regard to the way the Review should be determined (item 4 above refers), the Review Body discussed whether its requirement for information had been satisfied by the Notice of Review documentation contained in Members’ USB Flash Drives, no further procedure having been requested by the applicant.

Members requested sight of Google Earth and Streetview to inform their understanding of the application site.  The Independent Planning Adviser provided this.

Decision

Following discussion, the Review Body AGREED to DEFER consideration of the Notice of Review to allow interested parties, in particular Scottish Natural Heritage, to respond to the new information, namely a Bat report submitted by the applicant as part of the Notice of Review. Once interested parties had responded, the applicant would be given the opportunity to comment before reporting back to a future meeting of Planning Review Body.

The Review Body NOTED that, as some discussion of the Notice of Review had taken place, only those Members present during this item (Mr G Adam, Mr R Balfour, Mr R Bremner, Mr W Mackay, Mrs M Paterson and Mrs T Robertson) would be able to participate when the Notice of Review was brought back to the Review Body.

The meeting ended at 3.30 pm.