Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair, Councillor Amanda Hampsey, welcomed everyone to the meeting.  She explained that no person present would be entitled to speak other than the Members of the Local Review Body (LRB) and Mr Jackson, who would provide procedural advice if required.

At the previous meeting on 19 June 2023 the LRB agreed to admit a late response from Transport Scotland in response to comments made by the Applicant’s Architect and Engineer.  This information was before the LRB for consideration along with comments received from the Applicant’s Agent.

The further information requested from Planning and Transport Scotland at the first meeting of the LRB on 10 May 2023 was also before the LRB for consideration along with comments from interested parties.

Councillor Hampsey advised that her 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 Kain said that he had sufficient information.  He advised that from what he had read he felt there were inconsistencies between the information provided by Transport Scotland and the Applicant’s Agent.  He referred, in particular, to the number of expected two way vehicle movements per day from an additional dwelling, with Transport Scotland advising this would be 5 or 6 trips and the Applicant’s Agent advising it would be 2 or 3 trips.  He also referred to the reasons given by Transport Scotland for not introducing rumble strips or permanent signage on the trunk road.  He questioned why permanent signage would not be appropriate for this case when temporary signage was allowed for the timber extraction works.  He disputed that there would be an intensification of vehicle movements from one new dwelling compared to the vehicle movements expected during the timber extraction works.  Councillor Kain advised that he did not think the objections put forward by Transport Scotland ‘stacked up’.

Councillor Hardie advised that he understood what Councillor Kain had said but based on the expert opinion of Transport Scotland as statutory consultee, he would recommend refusal of this application.

Councillor Kain advised that he took the same view as the Applicant’s Engineer.

Councillor Hampsey advised that she had visited the site herself after the previous LRB meeting and was of the same opinion as Councillor Kain.

A discussion took place around the preparation of a competent motion to approve this application.  Mr Jackson pointed out that the LRB would need to justify why it would be appropriate to approve this application and give reasons why they would come to the conclusion that one extra dwelling would not lead to an intensification of traffic entering or leaving at the junction with the A83 (T) or significantly impact on any road safety issues at that location.

Decision

The Members of the Local Review Body agreed to:

1.    continue consideration of this case to allow time to seek advice from Officers on the preparation of a competent Motion to approve this application; and

2.    hold their next meeting on Monday 11 September 2023 at 9.00 am by Microsoft Teams.

(Reference: Further Information from Planning and Transport Scotland, and comments from Interested Parties, submitted)