Agricultural buildings plan back on track after appeal
Extension bid was met by objections
The Scottish Government has upheld an appeal from Perthshire butcher Simon Howie’s son which allows him to extend his family’s farming operation in Dunning.
Ross Howie applied for permission to construct four new buildings for cattle finishing at Millhouse in December 2015, but his application was met by 77 objections from residents unhappy about how close the animals would be kept to the village.
Perth and Kinross Council’s development management committee then chose to turn down the bid in February this year after hearing deputations from people concerned about excessive noise and unpleasant odours emanating from the proposed development.
Councillors were also convinced to vote against approving the development on the day when it was pointed out that Scottish Government guidance states agricultural buildings should be set at least 400 metres away from residential properties and that one nearby property was just 47 metres away.
In May, Mr Howie appealed to the Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division ( DPEA) seeking to overturn the
... with respect to noise generation the proposal would not be injurious to amenity
and fast boundary at 400 metres it does imply that intensive agricultural processes within 400 metres must be carefully examined to determine whether an adverse environmental or amenity impact would result.
“The council carried out just such an intensive examination of these issues by requiring a noise impact assessment (NIA) and an odour management plan.
“The NIA concluded that noise could be contained within the limits envisaged in [a Planning Advice Note]. This was further tested on-site by environmental health officers to ensure that noise from farm machinery could be contained to acceptable level, enforceable through planning conditions.
“I conclude with respect to noise generation the proposal would not be injurious to amenity.” And he continued: “The odour management plan sets out a comprehensive and detailed set of requirements in relation to storage of waste, movement of materials and hours of operation.
“With the full implementation of the odour management plan I conclude that despite the proximity of residential property the proposal would, with regard to odour emissions, not be injurious to amenity.”