New homes approved for Glenshellach site
A PLAN to build six more affordable houses in Glenshellach has been approved by councillors, writes Sandy Neil.
The application for six twostorey houses east of Hayfield, submitted by Argyll Community Housing Association (ACHA), was recommended for approval by Argyll and Bute Council’s planning officers at the meeting of its Planning, Protective Services and Licensing Committee (PPSL) at Kilmory Castle on Wednesday December 14.
It drew 121 expressions of support, summarised at the meeting, with many echoing the argument that Oban ‘desperately’ needs new fuel- efficient housing when the population is falling, and it needs to support services such as schools, shops, police stations and hospitals. Another argued: ‘Funding has been made available by the Scottish Government and Argyll and Bute Council’s SHIP Fund, which should not be lost for a project which will be of benefit to residents.’
On the other side sat 100 objections. One objector cited a ‘jarring contrast’ between the ‘individuality’ of Hayfield’s existing one-and-a-half-storey houses, with their slate roofs, timber windows and stone or timber cladding, and the proposed two-storey homes with ‘steeply pitched roofs and low quality finishing materials’. They asked: ‘How can one set of stringent rules apply to one development and be totally disregarded for an adjacent site?’
Another argued the ‘traffic now being funnelled down Glengallan Road has reached saturation point’, and that ‘ additional traffic will have an adverse impact on pedestrian safety particularly with the large number of school children in the area’.
The development ‘will exacerbate flooding in the lower glen and Lochavullin area’, another objector said, adding: ‘Glenshellach is already classified by SEPA as a significant flood hazard area and are continuing to support residential development to the detriment and the hazard of properties lower down the glen. All further development within the Glenshellach area should be stopped pending a full flood survey of the whole catchment area.’
However, planning officers replied: ‘SEPA hold no information to suggest that the application site subject of the current application is at risk of flooding.’
Others argued ‘this part of the town is already overdeveloped and no encouragement should be given to squeezing in more houses than the local development plan (LDP) defines’.
Council officers responded: ‘The LDP states that “the housing provision numbers are indicative and in appropriate circumstances may be varied at the discretion of the planning authority. Should the current proposal for six units be approved, this would represent an overall increase in units within the allocation from 11 to 18 units, which is considered to be acceptable and would relate well to the higher density development directly to the east of the site”.’
Earlier, at a hearing on November 14, councillors voted unanimously to approve ACHA’s plan to build 12 houses by Hayfield, which had received no letters of support and 43 objections. The original application for 18 houses had been reduced to 12, but Steven Fair, who represented objectors to the ‘tightly crammed’ development of ‘excessive number and density’, argued six of the houses had simply been relocated to an adjacent site and a second planning application, and they ‘jointly propose 18 houses on an 11-house allocation’.
The council stated this application now brings the number of affordable units on that site to 18, significantly more than the 25 per cent required in the LDP.
Councillor David Kinniburgh, chairman of the PPSL, said: ‘We were happy to approve this application. This planning approval, in keeping with the council’s local development plan and national planning policy, is great news for people in and around Oban who are looking for good-quality, affordable housing.
‘It’s also good news for people who work in construction – new developments support local joiners, plumbers, builders, electricians and so on.’
Councillor Robin Currie, policy lead for housing, said: ‘This is a very exciting time for housing in Argyll and Bute. With 554 new affordable homes having already been created, and plans for up to another 650, this will go a long way to addressing the housing shortage.’