Planning application discussion highlights need for transparency
Jun 28 2012
by Clare Damodaran, Blairgowrie Adv
ROSEMOUNT residents have asked the Blairgowrie and District Community Council to reconsider their support for a planning application for two houses on a field on Woodlands Road.
The application for two dwellinghouses and garages in principle at Stiellsmuir Farm was first submitted to Perth and Kinross Council in January.
It was refused on grounds it was contrary to the Eastern Area Local Plan, which designated the land as agricultural, and that it would affect the character of the area.
The applicants have subsequently asked the Local Review Body at Perth and Kinross Council to look at the decision.
Speaking at the most recent community council meeting, Rosemount resident Ewan Walker said: “Lots of residents are concerned about planning applications in the Rosemount area as a whole. We would like to know where the community council sits within the planning process.
“There isn’t one recorded view supporting the plan in Rosemount so how can the community council, which is supposed to represent the views of people in Rosemount as well as the rest of the town, support this?”
Feedback
Community councillor David Adams responded: “We are a statutory body and we represent the community as a whole. The community council formulated a view on this application based on feedback from the community which questions why we are building on greenfield sites outwith the town.
Run down
“600 houses have got to go somewhere in the Blair area and there is some concern that we are pushing the boundaries of the town further and further out, and that there are lots of derelict, run down areas in the town.
“We should be developing the heart of the town rather than creating commuter zones. We want people to live in the town and spend money in the town so lets look at the spaces that we have in the town.”
Following the meeting, Councillor Caroline Shiers commented: “My main issue of concern in relation to the discussion that took place at the community council centred on the need for the community council, if they are going to comment on planning applications which they should as a consultee, to ensure that the public are very clear about how the community council reached their decision.
“In this case the community council had not spoken to any of the objectors, did not seem to have taken notice of the various representations on the council website nor did they properly minute their discussion and how they reached their decision.
Transparency
“This is not about the merits or otherwise of the individual application. What was being debated was the need for the community council to ensure complete transparency in how they reach a decision and for them to ensure that they gave due reference to the current planning framework which they and local councillors operate within.”
