Concern over road safety hits farm weddings

Road safety fears appear to have scuppered plans to create a wedding venue at a Fallin farm.

Audrey Davidson retrospectively applied to Stirling Council planners for a change of use of land for the erection of a marquee (including bar storage and catering), decking, WC, fencing, car parking, coach parking and landscaping at Alton Farm.

However, the planners have now refused the application saying while the principle of the proposal as a wedding venue was acceptable, it couldn’t be show that there would not be a detrimental impact on road safety as it cannot be safely accessed.

Seven letters of support had been submitted for the application.

However, roads officials said they could not support the proposal as a proposed one way system could not be enforced.

In their decision, planners said: “The marquee will have a footprint of approx. 43m by 15m and will extend to a maximum height of 5m.

“The car park will consist of 33 car parking spaces and space for a coach drop off.

“The site is currently farmland within the countryside just outside Fallin.

“Whilst the proposed use is not strictly required to have a countryside location, it is considered a suitable use for a countryside location and likely to support the rural economy. The site location and marquee will be attractive to users given its proximity to the riverside and the layout is designed to take advantage of this location.

“Despite the building having a large footprint, its relatively low height and design will not appear obtrusive in the landscape.”

However, they added:“access to and from the site is a key issue in determining the acceptability of the development. The existing access is considered substandard and due to practical issues, it cannot be upgraded to the required standard.

“There is concern that whilst access can be taken from this junction, it is not suitable as an exit point. To resolve this the applicant has proposed a one way system to enter the site from the A905 and exit the site via the Bandeath Industrial Estate. This is considered a sensible solution and would resolve road safety concerns by removing the ability for vehicles to exit the site from the current access. This solution, whilst sensible, has practical limitations in its implementation. Notwithstanding issues surrounding legal rights of access through the industrial estate, which is not a planning matter, the planning authority requires a clear mechanism to require installation of the one way system and a way to enforce it.”