Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair, Councillor Kieron Green, welcomed everyone to the meeting.  He 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.

 

He 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 Irvine advised that he did not feel he had sufficient information to come to a decision. He advised that the core issue was the impact on the landscape, and he felt he was disadvantaged as he was not a resident of the island and had not visited Colonsay; therefore he could not put into context the visual impact a development may have on the landscape. He requested that a site visit be held to address that.

 

Councillor Hampsey advised that he felt he did have sufficient information to come to a decision, but was happy to work with Councillor Irvine and to go with the consensus.

 

Councillor Green advised that he had struggled to get a comprehensive picture of the landscape and that the strip view had not allowed him to put the visual impact into context and give an illustration of the prominence that development in that location may or may not have on the surrounding landscape. He advised that he was open to a site visit, and felt he could also benefit from a wider range of viewpoints of the surrounding landscape. Councillor Green highlighted that as the proposed development was outline planning permission, they did not have the full detail of the proposed development and could not therefore appreciate from a photograph or a montage the visual impact development may have on the site.

 

Councillor Irvine agreed with Councillor Green that as it was not a detailed application, they would struggle to get as good an idea of the impact from a representative image as they would from a site visit, adding that in the past when they had approached other sites by sea they had got a better feeling of the visual impact.

 

Councillor Hampsey advised that he was agreeable to holding a site visit.

 

Councillor Green said that he was mindful of the remote location and complexity of the logistics, but a site visit would potentially assist them to reach a decision.

 

Mr Jackson asked Members if their intention would be to hold a 2^nd calling on same day as the site visit and advised that if this was their intention, that it may be worthwhile to see if there was any further information they felt was appropriate to ask for prior to making a decision.

 

Councillor Green advised that it would be useful to have any additional information prior to the site visit and advised that he had further questions in respect of the outline planning permission. He advised that the supporting documentation suggested a house similar to surrounding properties around that but pictures had suggested differently and therefore he wanted an indication of the style of building proposed, to see if it was similar to the surrounding buildings or more unique, and to see if the proposal would minimise the landscape impact.

 

Mr Jackson advised that the applicant could be asked to provide an indication of what they would be proposing to build on the site and that Members could ask for an accompanied site visit and invite planning, the applicant and agents to attend and answer any questions.

 

Councillor Green advised that it would be useful to ask planning for model conditions and reasons should Members be minded to approve the proposal following the site visit.

 

Mr Jackson asked if Members  would be worthwhile to have the 2^nd calling following the site visit on Colonsay and advised that it would be useful to have any further information available prior to this.

 

Councillor Green asked if there was a location on Colonsay that would permit the use of hybrid meeting facilities to ensure all parties could attend if they so wished.

 

Mr Jackson advised that he was unsure what facilities were available at this point but if they were having a site visit on the island then Members would be in attendance in person and it may be that interested parties attendance would require to be in person.

 

Councillor Irvine confirmed that he would like the 2^nd calling to be held on Colonsay following the site visit with further information being made available prior to the site visit.

 

Councillor Hampsey advised that he had nothing further to add.

 

Mr Jackson provided a summary of what had been discussed and agreed.

 

Decision

 

The Argyll and Bute Local Review Body agreed to –

 

1.     request that the applicant provide an indicative proposal of the style of development and the different areas that the development could be sited on the plot;

 

2.     request that planning provide model conditions and reasons that could accompany an approval of Planning Permission in Principle should Members be so minded;

 

3.     hold an accompanied site visit at the earliest opportunity after further written submissions had been received to assess the visual impact any development may have on the proposed site and to request that planning, the applicant and agents be invited to attend; and

 

4.     hold a 2^nd calling of the Local Review Body on Colonsay following the site visit and that arrangements be made for the meeting to be hybrid should logistics allow for this.

 

(Reference: Notice of Review and Supporting Papers, Comments from Interested Parties, and Comments from Applicant, submitted)