Councillors reject bid to alter homes use
A further attempt for Perthshire holiday homes to become permanent residences has been quashed.
Planning permission to build 10 houses in the grounds of Blairgowrie’s Altamount House was first granted over 10 years ago.
But the lodges were approved by Perth and Kinross Council as holiday homes with the condition they were not permanently occupied as the sole or main residence of any occupant.
Detailed planning permission for 10 holiday homes in the grounds of the former hotel was first granted in 2007 then amended slightly twice in 2010.
At least three previous appeals to remove this occupancy condition have been refused by the Scottish Government in one instance and twice by PKC’s local review body.
A renewed application to remove the condition was refused by Perth and Kinross Council’s planning department in November 2020.
PKC’s local review body was asked to review the latest decision at its meeting on March 2.
Councillors were told the application was refused because the lodges had been laid out in a way that was not designed for permanent residence in terms of amenity.
Independent planning adviser David Harrison told councillors that Altamount House was run as a hotel but the hotel building was sold off in 2013.
He said the building work on the holiday homes was completed in 2011.
Cllr Bob Brawn said: “There is a considerable amount of history to this site.”
The Blairgowrie and Glens Conservative councillor said: “There is nothing in here in my mind that changes the circumstances in any way shape or form.
“The buildings are where they are. They haven’t changed. I feel that in this situation I am happy to uphold the comments made by the planning officers to refuse to delete the condition.”
Cllr Callum Purves said the “cramped nature of the site in being walled-in,” and windows on gable ends overlooking were not of the standard usually expected for a residential development.
The Conservative councillor said: “I would be concerned about the precedent we might set should we grant permission today.”
Lib Dem convener Lewis Simpson was in agreement and the refusal to delete the planning condition was unanimously upheld.
Robert Fraulo, one of the owners, previously told a meeting of Blairgowrie and Rattray Community Council he hoped a number of changes in recent years would support their case.
These included the area now being designated for residential use rather than for leisure in the local development plan, something which paved the way for the nearby McCarthy and Stone apartments.
The site includes five four-bedroom houses and five two-bedroom cottages and it was hoped the change would help guard against the financial impact of the pandemic.