Community ‘failed’ by system as trees cut down

THE community “has been failed” by the plan n ing system after mature trees were cut down on a Kirkcaldy estate, a councillor has claimed.

Labour’s Neil Crooks said the decision by a Fife Council official to approve a planning application under delegated powers had bypassed democratic accountability.

The site at the centre of the row has been in question since 2010 when an application was submitted to erect a phone mast outside the Scout hall in Glenbervie Road on Dunnikier estate.

Councillors turned the application down but an appeal was lodged.

A Scottish Government reporter agreed to the plan, on the condition certain mature trees were retained to provide a screen.

However, it has now emerged that a fresh application for a mast was submitted in 2015 when it was approved not by councillors but under powers delegated to officers.

The condition about retaining the trees, including a sycamore which is more than 80 years old, was not included in the permission, which technically allowed them to be removed.

Mr Crooks said councillors should have been consulted, given the history of the site.

Chief planning officer Pam Ewen said: “We are currently looking into the details of the planning application and whether the application site included the area where the tree stood.

“We will look at whether our systems need to be tightened up following a committee decision, if applications are subsequently looked at again through delegated powers.”