Council chamber in uproar over LDP2

on these sites.”

A council officer said: “The reporter can only look at the evidence in front of them at the time.”

He said the community council in Crook of Devon had “sat on the fence” which left ambiguity for the reporter.

As regards to Comrie, he said it was “quality not quantity”, and the points raised by members of the public were “not as valid.”

Conservative council leader Murray Lyle moved the report, urging councillors to focus on the successes saying “with the majority of cases these reporters found there should be no change to the plan.”

The report was seconded by Conservative councillor John Duff.

Independent Kinross-shire councillor Michael Barnacle voiced his dissent saying: “I am astonished we cannot challenge the unelected reporters.”

He said it was a “clear democratic deficit of the planning system.”

He said the LDP2 was in a “worst position than before.”

Kinross-shire Conservative councillor Callum Purves, currently suspended from the council’s Tory group, echoed Cllr Barnacle.

He said: “I am very disappointed unelected and unaccountable Scottish reporters can impose such things.

“Crook of Devon would have been a really positive development.”

Lib Dem Kinross-shire councillor Willie Robertson had the chamber banging their tables in approval as he roused the chamber with his reaction.

He declared it “a nonsense” the paper had been brought before the council when councillors “cannot do anything about it.”

He finished: “This is not progress but a Government reporter telling us what to do.”

Conservative councillor Anne Jarvis was so riled she called for “a show of hands for the dictatorship that it is.”

But Perth and Kinross Council officials told councillors in the council chambers they were “being asked to approve the plan, and that’s it.”