Agenda and minutes

Apologies were intimated from:-

Councillor Robin Currie

Councillor Rory Colville

Councillor Roderick McCuish

Councillor Bruce Marshall

There were no Declarations of Interest.

Report by Head of Planning and Regulatory Services

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and general introductions were made.

Charles Reppke, Head of Governance and Law, outlined the hearing procedure and the Chair invited anyone who wished to speak at the meeting to identify themselves.

Councillor Dance brought to the Committee’s notice a point of order in that Garelochhead Community Council as a Statutory Consultee, did not appear in the list of objectors on page 12 of the report by the Head of Planning.  The reasons for this were explained by the Chair of the Garelochhead Community Council.

Planning Officer

Howard Young, Area Team Leader, gave a brief outline of the application, showing slides from various elevations and aspects of the site.  He indicated the block plan and potential footprint of the development and explained the various elevation measurements and roof pitches.  Mr Young advised that this was not the first application by Dunbritton and that the previous concerns had been regarding the design and that this had now been amended.

As this site was within the settlement boundary, the presumption was in favour of the development.  Mr Young addressed the concerns regarding the surface water run off and advised that Ian Gilfillan, Flood Alleviation Manager, had considered that this could be covered by conditions and that after discussion with Mr Gilfillan it was recommended that a Drainage Impact Assessment be carried out and that an additional caveat could be added should the application be approved. 

Applicants

Dunbritton Housing

Gregor Cameron, Development Officer – Dunbritton Housing, explained that following the acquisition of funding in 2008, and following an initial study to identify a site for affordable housing, outline planning had been sought at this site for 12 units of housing.  Additionally secured funding had enabled the demolition of the existing building and general tidying up of the site. At the same time, Dunbritton had committed to this site with the support of the Council. The issue today was that of funding.  Mr Cameron explained that we were now in an environment of trying to deliver a similar project but with budget constraints and that rather than walking away from the project, Dunbritton had elected to stay with it.  At the acquisition stage, the preferred option would have been to rent the properties but that now we were looking at low cost housing for home ownership

Mr Cameron informed that as a need for 137 people to be housed had been identified, Dunbritton had secured a grant to develop the site.  Various aspects of how to go about this had been looked at and it was acknowledged that they had wanted to deliver something they would be proud of.  As a need for affordable housing in the area had been identified, it was agreed that two bedroomed flat accommodation would be most suitable.

The site itself, Mr Cameron explained, was challenging due to its topographical difficulties such as drainage.  The new design would take up a smaller footprint, giving extra space for parking etc.  This was a contemporary development to a high design specification which fitted in well with the parameters of the site.

Mr Cameron advised that he had attended two Community Council meetings and had listened to the residents.  He acknowledged their concerns regarding the design of the development and had tried to address many of the issues raised.  In summary, Mr Cameron emphasised that Dunbritton were committed to the delivering of high quality affordable housing to the Garelochhead area.

J M Architects

Ian Alexander agreed that it had been useful to attend the Community Council meetings and that this had triggered a further meeting with the Planners.  Mr Alexander then demonstrated a 3D design presentation of the proposals.  He felt that there had been a reaction to the site due to its location as it was outwith what would be the historic area of the village.  The residential proposal now here consisted of houses whose position was dictated by the topography of the site and that good plans were about good decisions.

Addressing some of the concerns, Mr Alexander explained that the car parking would not be seen from the road and that landscaping would be a feature.  Only 80% of the site would be of a building nature.  He gave reassurances that, should the development go ahead, a full service would be given.  Orientation and good views had been incorporated into the design, together with good ventilation.  The flats would be well serviced and that there would be visitor car parking in addition.  Various options had been considered during the design stage and that good design features such as variety of fenestration, different facing materials would be incorporated.  The colour of the building would be similar to that of the Hill House in Helensburgh and he demonstrated the position of the development within the Upland Road area on a computer ‘drop down’.

Statutory Consultee

Roads and Amenity Services

Mr Divertie, Technical Officer, informed that the Roads Department had worked hard with Dunbritton Housing Association to come up with a scheme that would be in accordance with Council policy regarding issues such as drainage.

Garelochhead Community Council

Martin Croft had concerns that as the village comprised mainly of two storey developments, this would be the only four storey building and would therefore be out of place and that the original building would probably not now be allowed.  Mr Croft referred to the presentation and highlighted his concerns that the design was box-like and would stand out when viewed from across the loch.  He felt that there had not been much change from the original design and that as there was nothing else like it in the vicinity, it would dominate the village.  The consultation had shown no support for the development and whilst there was little objection to social housing, that this design was unacceptable.  Referring to the roads issue, he explained that even when coming up the hill today for the site visit, it had been busy and that there was now the potential  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.