Councillors to discuss plan despite complaint
that had the company or the council mentioned that further consent was being sought for another 89 houses in the build-up to the public event ,a lot more locals would have turned up to scrutinise the latest drawings.
The trust’s letter to Ms Reid said: “The whole Lathro Farm site had an agreed allocation of 260 units in the LDP (Local Development Plan). Persimmon has already exceeded this number by being granted permission for 300 housing units across the whole site.
“The LDP had also set a limit of 140 units up to the year 2024. This will be exceeded simply with the completion of phase one, with its 187 dwellings.
“The further major increase proposed by Persimmon for phase two, if permitted, would have a considerable additional impact on many aspects of life in Kinross, including the schools, the health centre, traffic generation etc, and therefore meaningful and transparent public engagement is essential to the process.
“The anodyne wording provided by Persimmon in their PAN likely resulted in fewer members of the community attending the public exhibition than would otherwise have been the case. This does not appear to comply with the council’s own guide to preapplication consultation with local communities.”
And upon realising the PAN is now due to be considered by councillors next Wednesday, a spokesperson for the trust added yesterday: “KCT questions why this report is being submitted to the planning committee while our formal complaint about the earlier stage in the handling of this planning matter is still outstanding.
“Our complaint concerned the lack of transparency in the content of a public notice relating to changes proposed for the Lathro Farm site in Kinross. The notice failed to identify exactly the nature of changes proposed.
“The notice omitted any reference to the fact that the actual number of housing units now being proposed is nearly double the number for which the site currently has consent. We also note that even in this lengthy report to councillors there is no mention of the numbers Works continues on Lathro Farm
of housing units proposed or the fact that the intention is the near doubling of that previously agreed within the same space.
“KCT considers this to be an entirely unsatisfactory situation that requires thorough
independent investigation.”
But a PKC spokesperson replied yesterday: “The letter of complaint will be responded to in due course but it is being treated as a separate issue to the PAN being considered by the committee.”