ANOTHER TWIST IN PLAN FOR HOUSING Scone project intrudes on greenbelt
Perth and Kinross Council has admitted it failed to stick to its own greenbelt policy when it approved a company’s controversial application to build 700 new houses north of Scone.
Scone and District Community Council (SDCC) has received an admission from the local authority its report recommending councillors approve A&J Stephen’s in-principle application failed to mention the land protection policy.
The group only realised the boundary of the company’s proposed Scone North development encroached on the greenbelt after it was able to obtain detailed maps of the scheme months after councillors decided to approve it back in May despite more than 900 local objections.
Its secretary subsequently wrote to the council’s head of legal and governance services, Lisa Simpson, pointing out the report recommending the scheme be approved was flawed and questioning the legitimacy of A&J Stephen’s consent considering the discovery at the start of December.
PKC solicitor Colin Elliot has since responded to SDCC acknowledging the report that was put before councillors in May did “not refer to this additional land as being part of the existing greenbelt
allocation”, that it “ought to have done so” and that “reference should also have been made” in the report to greenbelt policy.
However the solicitor also said in his response he does not consider the effect of “including the additional land” as “significant in the context of the application” and “consequently, the diminution of the greenbelt is also not significant.”
He also added in his response: “For your information, the proposed Local Development Plan 2, currently out for public consultation, proposes to adjust the settlement boundary for Scone and consequently adjust the greenbelt boundary to reflect the boundary of the application.”
SDCC has since written back to Mr Elliot suggesting he has failed to take “full cognisance ” of the effect the contents of the report had on influencing councillors’ decision on the day they