Holyrood urged to probe Perth council
Communitywatchdoglatesttohighlightconcerns
A community council has become the latest organisation to call for a government-led inquiry into planning decisions in Perth and Kinross.
Kinross Community Council (KCC) has written to Holyrood’s local government and housing minister Kevin Stewart MSP highlighting applications the group believes officials were wrong to recommend for approval by councillors.
It alleges officials breached a European Community (EC) directive by recommending one application be approved, ignored national planning policy by recommending another be approved and further failed to notify Scottish ministers about the council’s financial interest in two of the applications being approved.
And it calls on the Scottish Government to investigate the planning team’s practice of recommending councillors grant developers permission to build more houses on sites than is stipulated in the council’s Local Development Plan (LDP).
The group’s demand is the third which has been received by Holyrood.
It comes after Kinross-shire Civic Trust (KCT) wrote to Mr Stewart asking him to order an inquiry into the exact same practice last month.
Similarly Scone and District Community Council (SDCC) asked Mr Stewart earlier this year to order an inquiry into a number of decisions taken by PKC officials which ultimately led to A&J Stephen’s highly controversial application to build 700 homes at Scone North being approved.
Mr Stewart has previously said the Scottish Government has “no plans” to enact a certain section of existing legislation which would allow him to authorise such an investigation.
He has also previously stated that even if the legislation was
Local government and housing minister, Kevin Stewart MSP already in force he would still be unable to order an inquiry into a local authority “in relation to one specific case”.
But in its letter to Mr Stewart, KCC points out that he has now been asked to investigate a string of controversies involving PKC’s planning team and goes on to outline a number of reasons why it thinks the team’s handling of several applications for major developments in Kinross ought to be investigated too.
Discussing Persimmon Homes’ recently approved application to build 300 homes at Lathro Farm the group’s letter says: “The developer wanted to fell several mature oak trees as part of this proposal.
“The local authority did not require the developer to carry out detailed ecological assessments with particular reference to breeding birds and protected species before determining the application.
“Instead, the local authority added conditions to the consent, requiring the developer to check for birds and bats before removing any vegetation or trees. This is contrary to ... legislation which states that such assessments must be carried out before determination of the planning application.
“The same planning proposal was “considered to comply with the LDP” by officers despite the proposal being for 300 dwellings. The LDP had an allocation of 260 dwellings for this site, with only 140 to be built up to the year 2024. 300 dwellings instead of 140 represents a 114 per cent increase.”
Moving on to Persimmon Homes’ original applications to build houses at the old Kinross High School site, which councillors refused to accept back in 2015, the group’s letter continues: “Approval was recommended even though the proposal included the complete demolition of an Edwardian building which, although not listed, was described in PKC’s own Conservation Area Appraisal as a “key building of interest”.
“Historic Scotland had said “If your council is minded to approve this application and notify us, we would need to fully understand how and why you have set national policy aside in justifying the development”.
“PKC had an interest in the application[s] as owner of the land. Yet PKC did not notify Scottish ministers of the proposal.”
And discussing Persimmon Homes’ latest successful applications to redevelop the old school site, the group goes on: “Only very sketchy plans for the Edwardian school building were submitted as part of the application.
“Instead, planning officers added a condition that detailed plans and elevations for the retained section, clearly indicating the extent of retention of the historic fabric and any additional alterations, should be lodged for the prior approval of the planning authority.
“This is excessively generous to this national housebuilder when individuals living in conservation areas must supply very detailed drawings with applications prior to determination even for minor changes to a modest dwelling.
“Adding this as a condition also means the public and heritage bodies do not have the opportunity to comment on the proposed treatment of the historic building.
“Again, of course, PKC had an interest in this development as landowner but did not notify Scottish ministers.”
The group’s letter concludes: “The above demonstrates that SDCC is not alone in its concerns regarding the handling of planning applications by PKC.
“In particular, the matter of approval for developments with numbers of dwellings greatly in excess of the LDP allocation needs to be addressed.
“It is extremely worrying that some officers either appear to be ignorant of important conservation laws or are willing to flout them.
“KCC could supply further examples of dissatisfaction with the planning authority. However, we trust the above is sufficient to illustrate our concern. KCC requests that an inquiry into the performance of PKC’s planning department takes place.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said this week: “A request [for an inquiry] has been received from KCC and we will respond in due course.
“We have no plans to commence [the section of the Planning (Scotland) Act which would allow an inquiry to be held] - however, this correspondence will help to inform our consideration of planning performance going forward.”
PKC declined to issue a comment on the situation.
SDCC is not alone in its concerns regarding the handling of planning applications