Report by Head of Planning and Regulatory Services
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Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made. The Head of Governance and Law outlined the procedure that would be followed and those who wished to speak were identified. Mr Reppke advised that a letter had been received from Mr and Mrs Rutherford advising that they were unable to attend. They asked that their continued opposition to the mast be noted at the meeting. A copy of this letter was circulated to the Committee.
Planning
Peter Bain spoke to the terms of the
report on behalf of the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services. He advised that this was a local detailed
application for the temporary installation of a 60m high anemometer mast on the
He
referred to a number of slides and showed a picture of Orsay viewed from
between the adjacent and overlooking villages of Portnahaven and Port Wemyss at
a distance of some 350m. He advised
that the island was uninhabited with the only structure of significance being
the Category A listed Lighthouse, the presence of which has contributed to what
was regarded by many as the iconic status of this small island. The island
location also provided the setting for the remains of St Oran’s chapel which
was designated a category B listed building and a
He advised that Orsay island was an area of
‘sensitive countryside’ delineated by the local plan shown here in light
green. He advised that the red stripes
on the plan denoted that the area was also subject to a Site of Special
Scientific Interest designation. The
effect of policy STRAT DC 5 in combination with local plan policy LP CST 2 is
to confer ‘undeveloped coast’ status on the island. It also lay within a wider local plan
designated Area of Panoramic Quality giving effect to the provisions of policy
LP ENV 10.
He
referred to a further extract from the local plan which showed the island in
the context of the adjoining settlements at Portnahaven and Port Wemyss and
advised that both of these settlements have conservation area status giving
effect to local plan policy LP ENV 14.
He advised that Structure Plan Policy prescribes those forms of
development which may be considered favourably in the context of sensitive
countryside designations. He advised
that the mast did not fall within any of these categories of development so
could only be approved as a minor departure to development plan policy. He
advised that Development plan policy provided that prospective exceptions to
policy in sensitive countryside required to be evaluated by way of an Area
Capacity Evaluation or ACE and he reminded Members that at the last meeting in
June, prior to consideration of the application details, the ACE previously
circulated was endorsed by the committee as a material consideration in the
determination of this application. He
advised that the ACE process identified that the island was characterised by its
exposed setting, a level plateau of open grassland, open views from facing
settlements with those views being dominated by the presence of the listed
lighthouse. He advised that the ACE
concluded that there would be little if any capacity to absorb new development
successfully and that there were no more appropriate locations on the island
for the development than that which has been proposed by the Applicant. The advised that the mast would be twice the
height of the lighthouse and its presence would temporarily adversely affect
landscape character. It would detract
from the scale of the lighthouse and would intrude on its setting as a listed
building. It would also detract from the
settings of the Portnahaven and Port Wemyss conservation areas. He advised that the development as proposed
would therefore have adverse consequences for landscape character and the
historic environment and would not satisfy development plan policy as a
consequence. He advised that the ACE
which had been previously adopted must now be regarded as a material consideration
in the determination of this application.
Its effect was that the development must be regarded as having an
adverse environmental impact and that there were no other sequentially
preferable locations on the island, as any prospective alternatives would share
the same shortcomings as the application site currently proposed. He advised that the issue in this case
therefore became whether development for a temporary period supporting the
delivery of a national interest project, despite lack of support by the
development plan, the identified impacts on its surroundings, and the extensive
opposition by third parties, ought to be approved on a locational need basis,
supported by the Applicants’ contention that this is the only technically
feasible location available to them onshore for the purposes of monitoring the
wind resource in relation to the proposed offshore windfarm project.
Mr Bain then ran through a selection of plans and slides submitted by the Applicant which showed the location of the mast and Orsay island within the wider locality, the exact location of the met mast and its intended location some 200m South East of the lighthouse. He advised that the proposed meteorological mast was a slender, guyed pole structure of 60m ... view the full minutes text for item 3
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Report by Head of Planning and Regulatory Services
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Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Major Applications Team Leader spoke to the terms of the
report advising that the planning permission is sought for the temporary
erection of a meteorological data collection mast for a period of 6 years (with
an agreement from the Applicant that this period could be reduced to 4 years if
Members were mindful to grant permission but only on the basis of a lesser
period) in order to collect data in advance of submission of an application for
a proposed off-shore Wind Farm which will be determined by the Scottish Government. The proposed mast would be sited on the small
and uninhabited Orsay Island, some 350 metres off the coast of Port Wemyss and
would be located adjacent to a Category A listed lighthouse. The island location also provides the setting
for the remains of St Oran’s chapel and is designated a category B listed
building and
Decision
1. Agreed to endorse the findings of the ACE set out in Appendix B to the report and that it be regarded as a material consideration in the determination of the application; and
2. Agreed to hold a pre-determination hearing at the earliest opportunity.
(Reference: Report by Head of Planning and Regulatory Services dated 30 May 2013, submitted)
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