Delay for plans naked gardener has objected to Firm wants to build 42 homes
Concerns over noise pollution have resulted in the lengthy delay in the determination of an application to build new homes in Abernethy that prompted an unusual response from a local earlier this year.
Hadden Construction applied to build 42 new homes in a field on the fringes of the village back in December last year.
But the bid was hit with a bizarre objection from a neighbouring resident who claimed he would not be able to garden naked if the development went ahead.
“I often wander around naked in the garden,” the man told PKC planners back in January. “It is my space for meditation and enhances my well-being. I do not cope well with people and moved here because I needed to be well away from others.
“I use the garden for my need of quiet and space for meditation. I play music in the garden which does not affect anyone else, [but] if this goes ahead that will no longer be the case.”
Since then potato processor Branston has applied to extend their Abernethy factory onto the same field as well triggering a warning from PKC’s environmental health team saying it was concerned the noise generated by this additional development could disturb residents living nearby.
In a memorandum sent to Branston in August the council’s regulatory services manager said an initial noise impact assessment it commissioned from consultants was unsatisfactory and unless a better assessment was produced his team was likely to lodge an objection to the extension bid.
“This service has a number of concerns about how the noise assessment has been undertaken,” the memorandum said. “I would therefore request that additional information is provided to address this service’s concerns and that a revised noise impact assessment be submitted.
“Based on the information submitted to date, I would have no option but to object to this application as it has not been demonstrated that noise from the development will not adversely affect residential amenity of nearby noise sensitive properties.”
Asked when it was likely either of the two applications - which have both attracted at least a dozen objections from locals - would be determined a council spokesperson said this week: “The [Hadden Construction] application site forms part of allocated site MU8 in the local development plan for mixed use employment and residential development.
“Alongside this application, a separate proposal has been submitted from the other landowner of MU8 to expand their business and operations.
“Noise from this proposed expansion has been identified by our environmental health team as an issue to be addressed before either of the two applications can be determined.
“Both applicants’ acoustic consultants are currently carrying out work in this respect and once their submissions are received, the council’s planning team will be able to assess things further.”