Residents object to development plan

MORE than 80 residents turned out in opposition to plans for a new restaurant development close to a popular holiday resort.

An application by Forest Energy Scotland Ltd seeks to build a farmhouse shop, cafe and restaurant at Fowlis.

The plans have already met with resistance from nearby Piperdam Leisure and Golf resort, where the newly formed Piperdam Action Group held a residents’ meeting.

A group spokesman said: “We were gobsmacked at the turn out – we only expected maybe 20 people – and the overwhelming feeling was that people would be putting in objections.

“The point here is this all could have been avoided if the developer had submitted plans which required a pre-application consultation. All issues could have been discussed.”

The group said most concerns centred on environmental issues, especially noise. “It’s tolerable from the existing Piperdam establishment but this new business is too close to houses,” the spokesman said.

“We wouldn’t have objections to a farmhouse shop and cafe but this is much more – if you add the restaurant and outdoor areas, it comes to 320 seats. There are 10 houses just a stone’s throw from outdoor seating.

“The entrance is too close to a blind bend, with no pedestrian access at all and already we have problems with people hammering up that road at 80 mph.”

But Philip Mulholland, co-director of Forest Energy, said while valid issues would be discussed during the planning process, many concerns had been fuelled by propaganda.

He refuted houses were a “stone’s throw” away and said the site’s entrance on the A923 was “way further west than the blind bend”. In addition, the site plans were deliberately designed to minimise noise.

He added: “My plans are 0.3 hectares less than the two hectare threshold for consultation.

“The group is complaining about the size of my proposed development, yet want it to be bigger? You can’t do that – sizes of car parks, etc, are dictated by the planning department, it’s not something a developer can decide on.”

Drawings of how the new businesses might look.