Go-ahead for holiday cottage on greenbelt
Planning panel vote 3-2 in favour of application
Farmers have been narrowly given the go-ahead to build a new cottage for holiday lets on a greenfield site near Bannockburn.
Ian and Wendy Callion’s application for land east of Mallard Cottage at Bolfornought Farm near Fallin had been recommended for refusal by Stirling Council planners.
However, councillors on the planning panel voted on Tuesday by three votes to two to give it the green light.
Planning consultant for the applicants James Reilly said part of the land earmarked was currently used for livestock but the land was also next to the site of a previously demolished cottage, the foundations of which were within gardens serving Mallard Cottage.
He added: “What is being asked for is a specific holiday let cottage. There is no intention to get a house by the back door, which we know does happen. It is a greenbelt location but it is one house for holiday let purposes and we are happy for the council to put a restriction on anything being developed in the gardens.”
The panel heard that the Callions had been farming at Bolfornought Farm for more than 23 years but had bought a late neighbour’s cottage a few years ago to create a holiday let in a bid to diversify - something many farmers were doing in order to meet a challenging agricultural climate.
Mrs Callion said a current holiday let had been established for three years and has achieved more than 80 per cent occupancy in the past two, with customers coming from as far afield as the USA.
Around 75 per cent are repeat customers and potential guests were having to be turned away, not only losing the Callions business but potentially depriving the wider Stirling area of tourist spend.
She said health issues experienced by her husband had also encouraged her to further diversify the business into something which she could operate and which would subsidise the cost of employing help to support the farming element.
She added: “I was born and bred in Stirling and have been very fortunate to stay at Bolfornought for the last 23 years and wanted to give people the chance to see the beautiful views we see every day.
“We realise we are a greenbelt site but feel we would give up the prospect of building in the garden of the existing cottage - where there was once a cottage which was demolished - to create this new holiday let. We don’t want to develop that plot at all. It is too close for people to enjoy their holiday and privacy.”
The council’s planning officials advised councillors that while Scottish planning policies were generally favourable towards farm diversification there was a difference between policies for development in the greenbelt and policies for development in the countryside, with those for the greenbelt generally “stricter and narrower”.
The footprint of the demolished cottage would be considered brownfield, which would not be recognised under greenbelt policies.
Asked whether approval could affect future applications, they added that in Scottish planning law there was “no such thing as precedent”, however planning authorities were still expected to be “consistent”with their decisions in the same situations.
Mr Reilly said, however, “We have accepted that this falls under greenbelt policies but we still want you to support this and it is not massively detrimental to the greenbelt.”
He argued that there were mitigating and unique circumstances and that a House of Lords judgement had ruled that there was a built-in flexibility depending on the facts and circumstances of each case.
Councillor Jim Thomson said he felt he could support the application given the farm already had a holiday let, on the condition the proposed house would only be used for that purpose.
However, Councillor Danny Gibson backed planners’ recommendation to refuse the application saying that while he appreciated the applicants’ attempt to argue on planning policy grounds, unmet demand could be applied to many things that came before the panel.
He was “reluctantly” seconded by panel chair Councillor Margaret Brisley who said: “I have every sympathy with the applicant and maybe in a few years time when reviewing the Local Development Plan this situation may change, but at the moment we have to see officers following through on our policies.”
The application was approved by three votes to two, however, after Councillors Thomson, Graham Lambie and Christine Simpson voted to give it the go-ahead.