‘No’ to plan for old sports site
Four house development refused
Perth and Kinross Council has denied a man permission to build four houses on the site of a former sports club in Scone which closed three years ago.
Several residents said they believed Joe Bryce was seeking to cram too much new development on land at the former Scone Bowling Club on Balformo Road when they were asked for their views about his proposal earlier this year.
One of the local authority’s planning officers has now concluded the proposal for four four-bedroom houses does amount to an overdevelopment of the site and refused Mr Bryce’s application under delegated powers.
The application drew 11 objections during a public consultation, including one from a representative of local girlguiding groups who questioned why they were not given an option to buy or lease the land or the club’s buildings before Mr Bryce made his bid.
Claire Gault said in her objection: “Girlguiding Scone and Balbeggie District have been trying to secure this building and land as a venue for girlguiding meetings and community use since 2017.
“We were never given the chance to have a meeting to arrange the purchase of it, always being put off and told no decision had been made about it. Then we found out about this planning application.
“Due to the large number of new houses in Scone, and with the proposed new houses in the area, we are going to be short of premises for girlguiding and youth organisations to hold meetings and activities in the village.
“We feel more houses is not the way forward for Scone and this property should have been offered to the community first before a developer.”
PKC planning officer Sean Panton said of Mr Bryce’s proposal in his report of handling: “The proposed designs of the dwellinghouses are considered to be acceptable for the context of the site and will not appear out of place on the streetscene.
“They are of an appropriate height, scale and design reflective of the prevailing character of the area. In addition, the material palette will blend in with the surrounding development. The proposed garden building also raises no adverse concerns as this is an improvement from the existing tea room to be demolished.
“However, plot four is considered to have insufficient useable amenity ground for the scale of the proposed dwellinghouse. The existing trees on the site to be retained are located on this plot and thus, combined with the need for a retaining wall due to the topography of the site, significantly reduces the size of the useable garden ground.
“The useable garden ground therefore falls well below the recommended 25 per cent building to plot ratio as recommended within the council’s placemaking supplementary guidance. This would therefore constitute the overdevelopment of the site and would be contrary to the council’s placemaking policies.”
Mr Bryce can now either accept Mr Panton’s decision, appeal against the decision or revise his proposal and submit another planning application for the site.