Concern about impact on burial mound setting
Concerns about the setting of a Stone Age burial cairn have been expressed because of plans for a tourist site nearby.
Smallholder Laura Robertson, who keeps pigs, chickens and a horse on six acres of land at Pendreich, has applied to Stirling Council to build a house and four selfcatering eco pods.
She wants to set up a ‘sustainable living scheme’ in which the land and the glamping pods would be her main source of income.
But Stirling Council archaeologist Murray Cook pointed out the proposed scheme would clash with the 4000-year-old Fairy Knowe Cairn, which sits between the site south-east of Lemahamish and Bridge of Allan Golf Course. Dr Cook has recommended that the application be rejected until the applicant has conducted “an appropriate assessment of the visual impact of the setting on the monument”.
In a report to councillors he said: “The proposed development impacts directly on the setting of a scheduled monument: Fairy Knowe Cairn, a prehistoric burial monument, some 4000 years old and built in a prominent location, designed to be seen and to see the surrounding landscape in 360 degrees.
“While the immediate setting has been somewhat compromised with more recent development (the golf course and an agricultural shed), the proposed scale of this development combined with another proposal in the same area (a house) has the potential to have a significant cumulative impact on the setting of the monument.
“However, the nature of this impact is unclear as the applicant has not provided any assessment of the setting.”
On Tuesday evening Ms Robertson told Bridge of Allan Community Council she had bought the six acres of land at Pendreich from a family member in 2015 to put horses on.
She also keeps sheep for breeding there, as well as goats, pea fowl, guinea fowl and geese.
She told the meeting: “The glamping pods will help bring in money for the smallholding to be sustainable.
“I intend to stay in my job but I need money for my smallholding. It’s a very expensive hobby.
“I cannot put in pods there without me being there. I have also asked for a single-storey house up there as well.”
Ms Robertson insisted the house and pods plans would not impact on the cairn. They would not be visible as the site is on an incline.
She said: “You cannot see anything but a large green shed which has been up there since 2016.”
Ms Robertson explained: “I’m going up there to live for sustainable living. You need the house to manage that.
“The pods have to come first because that’s what brings in the money.”
Her planning consultant Paul Houghton of Baird Lumsden told the meeting they would be happy for occupancy restrictions which tied the house to the smallholding, adding: “There will be a relationship between the two.”
Asked if the house and pods applications would go before the same planning committee, Mr Houghton replied: “We don’t know that. The only issue we have to address is the archaeological one and the intervisibility between the monument and site.”
Mr Houghton also said he expected the plans to be determined under delegated powers, without going to a committee.
Ms Robertson’s plans have received two letters of support and are also backed by Bridge of Allan Community Council, who have described the proposals as an asset to the town.
The Fairy Knowe was excavated in 1868 and a cist was discovered, as well as fragments of human bones and animal bones.
There were also six flint arrowheads, a fragment of what was thought to be a stone spearhead and a piece of pine which may have formed part of a spear-shaft.
A beaker was found but has since been lost.
It was designed to be seen and to see the surrounding landscape in 360 degrees