Agenda and minutes

 

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and advised that no person present would be entitled to speak other than the Members of the Local Review Body (LRB) and Mr Reppke who would provide procedural advice if required.

 

The Chair advised that his first task would be to establish if the Members of the LRB felt that they had sufficient information before them to come to a decision on the Review.

 

Councillor Currie advised that although there had been a lot of information provided he was finding it difficult to picture the layout of the location.

 

The Chair asked if Councillor Currie thought it would be beneficial to have a site inspection.

 

Councillor Currie advised that he thought there was always merit in having a site inspection and that he wondered why it was okay for members of the family who lived in the house and probably had cars to stay in the gazebo but not alright for anyone else.

 

Councillor Trail advised that he felt that he did have enough information to allow him to determine the case.

 

The Chair advised that he too felt he had enough information however, he advised that he agreed to some extent with Councillor Currie  and would be happy to visit the site.

 

Councillor Trail advised that he supported the decision to hold a site inspection.

 

Decision

 

The Argyll and Bute LRB agreed:-

 

1.        to hold an accompanied site inspection in order to view the site and assess the road safety concerns arising in respect of the access;

 

2.        to invite the Applicant, the Applicant’s Agent, Officers from Planning and Roads and Objectors to attend this site visit; and

 

3.        to reconvene at the conclusion of the site visit.

 

The meeting of the Argyll and Bute Local Review Body reconvened on Tuesday 17 December 2013 in the North Connel Village Hall at 2.30 pm.

 

Present:          Councillor Alex McNaughton (Chair)

                        Councillor Robin Currie

                        Councillor Richard Trail

 

Attending:        Charles Reppke, Head of Governance and Law, Adviser

                       

 

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting including members of the public and interested parties who had attended the site visit earlier (Note of site visit attached at Appendix A to this Minute). The Chair outlined the procedure that would be followed and reminded everybody that only the members of the panel and the adviser Mr Reppke could speak at the meeting.

 

The Chair then asked if Members now felt they had enough information and everyone confirmed that they had sufficient information to make a decision.

 

Councillor Currie said he had some difficulty understanding why this was safe for family to use but not paying guests.

 

Councillor Trail said it was clear from the advice from the Roads Engineer at the site visit that the splays were substandard and that this was a  busy single track road. It was clear also that the Applicant had the power to remedy the problem by removing the obstructions and so he was minded to support the Officer’s decision of refusal on road safety grounds.

 

Councillor McNaughton said he agreed with the assessment by Councillor Trail and Councillor Currie agreed also.

 

Decision

 

To refuse the Notice of Review on the basis that  the advice from the Roads Engineer at the site visit that the splays were substandard and that this was a  busy single track road.  It was clear also that the Applicant had the power to remedy the problem by removing the obstructions and that the application for review be refused on the basis of the Officer’s original decision set out in the report of handling which was endorsed by the LRB members.

 

(Reference: Notice of Review and Supporting Documentation and Written Submissions, submitted)

 

 

Appendix A

 

ARGYLL AND BUTE LOCAL REVIEW BODY

 

NOTE OF MEETING OF SITE INSPECTION RE CASE 13/0015/LRB

DUNDONALD, ACHNACREEBEAG, NORTH CONNEL, PA37 1RE – Tuesday 17 December 2013

 

 

In attendance:            Councillor Alex McNaughton, Argyll & Bute LRB (Chair)

                                    Councillor Robin Currie, Argyll & Bute LRB

                                    Councillor Richard Trail, Argyll & Bute LRB

                                    Charles Reppke, Head of Governance and Law (Adviser)

                                    Allan Macaskill, Applicants’ Agent

                                    Andrew Barrie, Planning Enforcement Officer

                                    Judith Steven, Planning Officer

                                    John Heron, Road’s Engineer

                                    Andrew and Doreen Henderson, Objectors

                                  Mr and Mrs Douglas-Kellie, Objectors

 

Chair welcomed everyone and asked Mr Reppke to outline reason for site visit.  Mr Reppke outlined the remit of the site visit and suggested to Members that it might be appropriate to hear from the interested parties in relation to the road safety issues for the access point.  He also explained to members of the public present that only interested parties were entitled to speak in response to an invitation to do so from a question posed to them by the LRB. The members invited parties to set out their views and heard from all interested parties in regard to their views of the suitability of the access location.

 

The LRB walked the visibility splay and there was debate between the Applicants’ Agent and the Planning Officers in regard to which of the access points, vehicular or pedestrian was the proper focus for the LRB Members.  It was clearly the case from the Roads Engineer’s advice that either access had an issue in terms of road safety and having the necessary visibility splays.  The Members inquired about what could be done if anything to alleviate the restrictions and Mr Heron confirmed it was within the Applicant’s power to remove the restrictions to visibility on the splays but he had declined to do so.

 

The LRB then afforded a final opportunity for all interested parties to make comment on the road safety issues and various points in relation to the single track road, the traffic on it and issues about the planning history of the site were raised.

 

The LRB concluded their site visit by intimating that parties and the public were free to attend the meeting at the hall when a decision would be made.