Group gets parking spaces

A card-playing group has succeeded in convincing councillors to overrule an official who denied them permission to create an off-street car park for its members at their meeting place in Perth.

The council’s Local Review Body opted to strike down an officer’s previous decision to deny Perth Bridge Club consent to create a few spaces outside its King Street quarters after the group appealed the decision.

Case officer Marianna Porter recommended the club’s application be refused saying she considered the proposal to be unacceptable as the property lies with the city’s conservation area and the group would have to partly demolish a boundary wall to create an access to the spaces.

She declared in a delegated report the removal of a section of the wall would result in the loss of“historic built fabric forming part of the curtilage of the listed building”and without it“the ability to appreciate the original setting of the listed building would be lost”.

But reviewing Ms Porter’s reasons for recommending refusal on Tuesday this week Kinross-shire councillor Richard Watters said he could see no problem with letting the group create the car park so long as it ensured its members were instructed to reverse into the spaces.

“I don’t think it would be detrimental to the conservation area,”he said.“I’m quite happy to go against the officer’s decision.”

Councillor Henry Anderson concurred saying other owners of properties along the same street had created similar car parks to the one Perth Bridge Club was proposing and in his opinion these were acceptable.

The committee therefore agreed to overrule the officer and grant consent.