Agenda and minutes

Advance notification was given that the meeting would have to be postponed to later in the day.

In the absence of the Chair, Councillor Peter Wallace opened and adjourned the meeting at 12 noon. 

The meeting reconvened at 2.30 pm with all Members of the LRB in attendance.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair, Councillor Gordon Blair, 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 Ms Ledsom, who would provide procedural advice if required.

Referring to the site inspection held prior to this meeting (note of site inspection attached as Appendix A to this Minute), and the further information requested at the previous meeting along with comments from interested parties, 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 Armour referred to the previous meetings and advised that back in October he was minded approving the application.  He commented that he thought it was such a minor problem that was stopping this application.   He said that he felt they had to have a serious look at the issue concerned if they were still minded approving the application and going against the recommendation of the Roads Officer.  He said that he would be happy to approve if the issue could be sorted out, but he was not sure at this current time if that would be possible.  He said he would be quite happy to have further discussions to see if a compromise could be reached.

Councillor Wallace said he was like minded that he would be minded finding a way to approve the application.  He referred to the site inspection and commented that the road was a lot busier than he had expected it to be.  He said that they needed to take the concerns raised by the Roads Officer seriously.  He advised that he would like to find a way to get it across the line but he was not sure how that could be done.

Councillor Blair referred to the traffic survey that had been undertaken and the concerns the Roads Officer had with the volume of traffic.  He also referred to the further information provided by Roads Officer for the LRB meeting in October which advised that a neighbouring property received planning permission on condition that the same visibility splay requirements were achieved but this was not subsequently delivered.  He expressed concern that this condition was not enforced but said two wrongs would not make a right.

Councillor Armour commented that it was not the Roads Officer’s job to ensure a condition was imposed.  He acknowledged the Regulations the Roads Authority had to abide by and advised that he would have concerns about putting public safety at risk if the LRB were to go against the recommendation of the Roads Officer.  He commented that a very good point had come out of the traffic survey which raised an issue with overtaking stationery vehicles which seemed to be more of an issue than overtaking was.  He advised that he did not think the decision the Roads Officer had come to had been taken lightly.  He commented on the height of the wall which was causing the issue and questioned whether there was any way to resolve this.  He said that he would like to approve the application but would not be keen to go against the recommendation of the Roads Officer.

Councillor Blair sought advice on what the process would be if the LRB agreed to approve this application subject to a Section 75 Legal Agreement.  He asked if this would require some input from the Applicant.

Councillor Blair sought advice on what the process would be if the LRB agreed to approve this application subject to a Section 75 Legal Agreement.  He asked if this would require some input from the Applicant.

Ms Ledsom explained that when it came to securing matters by way of a Section 75 Legal Agreement the LRB could require Heads of Terms to be prepared by the Planning Officer and that there would be an opportunity for the Applicant to comment on the Heads of Terms.  Ms Ledsom advised that it was her understanding from the further information previously supplied by the Planning Officer to the LRB regarding the possibility of a Section 75 Legal Agreement, that this was not achievable to the north of the site because the Applicants could not reach agreement on this with the property to the north. Ms Ledsom referred the Members of the LRB to the further information provided by the Planning Officer on page 10 of the LRB Agenda Pack issued for the LRB meeting held on 27 November 2025 which stated “the reason the application was refused and not approved subject to a Section 75 was because the Applicant had confirmed they could not get agreement with the property to the north”.

In terms of visibility splay to the south, Ms Ledsom again referred the Members of the LRB to the further information provided by the Planning Officer on page 10 of the LRB Report pack issued for the LRB meeting held on 27 November 2026 which noted that the Applicant has agreements in place with the neighbouring properties to the south but the Planning Officer considered that a Section 75 Legal Agreement would be required to secure the visibility to the south in perpetuity.  Ms Ledsom advised that the LRB will also note that the Applicants’ Agent provided comments on the Planning Officer’s comments in relation to a Section 75 Agreement

Councillor Armour acknowledged that the visibility splays to the north would not be achievable to the north without that Section 75 Agreement and commented that the Applicant had proposed a reduced visibility splay.

Councillor Blair advised that considering the recommendation of the Roads Officer he would reject this application.

Councillor Armour commented that he could not see any other way around this and that he wished there was, as it was such a minor point that warranted refusal of the application.

Councillor Wallace asked if it would be possible to continue consideration to find a way to approve the application.  He  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.