Scottish Borders Council
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SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL PLANNING AND BUILDING STANDARDS COMMITTEE 7 SEPTEMBER 2020 APPLICATION FOR PLANNING PERMISSION ITEM: REFERENCE NUMBER: 20/00523/FUL OFFICER: Paul Duncan WARD: East Berwickshire PROPOSAL: Erection of mixed use building comprising of office (Class 4) and storage (Class 6) and associated development including servicing, parking, re-profiling of existing shelter mound and demolition of adjacent harbour wall SITE: Land North West of Fishmarket, Gunsgreen Quay, Eyemouth APPLICANT: Neart Na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Ltd AGENT: Young Planning & Energy Consenting BACKGROUND Eyemouth Harbour has been selected as a preferred location for an Operations & Maintenance (O&M) base to support the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) Offshore Wind Farm [pronounced “nart na gweeha”]. The O&M base would house office, warehousing and staff welfare facilities required to support work servicing the wind farm once constructed. NnG began offshore construction of the wind farm in August of this year. SITE DESCRIPTION The proposed site is located at Eyemouth’s deep water harbour. Distinct from the original harbour to the south, the deep water harbour was formed in the late 1990s and is accessed by a direct distributor road via the Eyemouth High School roundabout to the south of the town. The Fishmarket building was erected around the same time and lies roughly perpendicular to the southern boundary of the proposed site. A significant portion of the proposed site has been occupied by harbour users mainly for storage purposes in an area known as Smeaton’s Yard. An old stone wall separates the yard from the quayside to the south. To the west of the site is the narrow harbour entrance known as The Canyon. To the north lies an artificial, gently-graded screen mound that reaches a maximum height of around 7m above the ground level of the proposed site. Rock armour sea defences provide further protection to the harbour. The foreshore and sea beyond form part of the Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The Category A listed Gunsgreen House sits in a commanding position overlooking the harbour around 200m to the south. Eyemouth’s beach and Bantry promenade are located to the south-west. Greenends Gully lies to the east, separate from the proposed site. The foreshore in this area is twice designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest by the Berwickshire Coast (intertidal) SSSI and the Burnmouth Coast SSSI [referred to from hereon as the two SSSIs]. The Gully is accessed by a private road which joins the public distributor road via an open yard area at the entrance to the existing site. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT A new operational headquarters building would be constructed for the wind farm operator incorporating office (Use Class 4) and storage uses (Use Class 6). Visually, the building would comprise of two distinct elements: a 3 storey 1060sqm office reaching a height of roughly 14m; and a two storey 530sqm storage warehouse to the east. The building would feature monopitch roofs with distinctive angular overhanging eaves wrapped in standing seam aluminium cladding, and a largely glazed west elevation. The building would sit at the far western end of the site, away from the existing Fishmarket building. A large yard area would sit between the two buildings, adjacent to the quayside for ease of transferring parts, equipment and personnel. Associated development would include a new junction with the public road, car parking, servicing, fencing, the re-profiling of the existing shelter mound, rooftop antennae and the demolition of a parapet wall on the quayside. Planning permission has been granted to relocate the existing facilities which currently occupy the site elsewhere. Works within the harbour water would be the subject of a separate Marine Licence application to Marine Scotland. Neither form part of this application. PLANNING HISTORY Planning history at the deep water harbour includes the previous applications for its construction, and for the erection of the Fishmarket building. This is summarised below. 95/00426/FUL - Construction of new deep water inner basin with quays, access roads, weather break mound and associated works 96/00406/FUL - Creation of an additional berthing quay 97/05218/FUL - New fishmarket, ice plant, parking and hardstanding etc. 99/00564/FUL - Installation of fuel storage and distribution facility 04/01550/FUL - Siting of five storage containers 05/01149/FUL - Installation of re-fuelling facility and fuel pump in casing 05/01938/FUL - Siting of five additional storage containers 09/00007/FUL - Formation of access road and parking area 11/01127/FUL - Erection of storage building, palisade fence and lantern columns All applications were approved. REPRESENTATION SUMMARY 20 members of the public lodged objections to the application, all related to vehicular access to the nearby Greenends Gully, which is used by recreational divers. The concerns raised are summarised below: Loss of access Proposed rerouting may not be delivered Timescale for delivering the rerouting Access rerouting should form part of this planning application Potential tourism/ economic impact of losing access to the diving site Improvements should be made to the existing access road Impact on the dive site, as a place of environmental importance The Gunsgreen House Trust (GHT) also provided comments. The Trust support the principle of the development, and do not object, but raised the following issues: A design of exceptional quality is essential to do justice to the site; the proposals are promising but deserve further improvement. A large building is accepted for functionality. A contemporary architectural approach is appropriate and could be emblematic of a low carbon future, looking back at the Old Town in counterpoint, however references in the Design Statement to picking up on the traditional architectural vocabulary of the Old Town are not persuasive. Modulation to break down the scale of the building would be welcome. Weathering of materials is a concern, including coloured aluminium cladding. The use of colours to reflect the brand identity of NnG is not an appropriate template for applying articulation given the building’s dominant presence within the Harbour area. The visualisations project a somewhat ’corporate’ character. We would rather the architecture responded to and respected its context and was not a vehicle for the projection of corporate identity. Key views to Gunsgreen House remain unaffected; the proposed new building sufficiently far away. The emblematic views from the south end of the Harbour, and those from most of Harbour Road will be unaffected; the bend in Harbour Road blocks sightlines to the site. Only as you progress halfway along the Middle Pier will the angle of view start to include both the House and the proposed building. The House and the proposed new building will figure in the views from Fort Point, but these are from long distance, and less important. Views from Gunsgreen House will be adversely affected to some extent, but the main views over the harbour will be unaffected. Seaward facing views will be affected by only two of the seven windows are from key visitor spaces. Views from the carriage area, front door steps and other outdoor spaces will also be affected. The security fence at the shelter mound would be visually obtrusive and will prevent passage of walkers westwards to the Canyon. It is concerning that a large multi-national in the renewables industry is not proposing a zero carbon building. 10 members of the public supported the application. All the representations can be viewed in full on Public Access. APPLICANT’S SUPPORTING INFORMATION Supporting information submitted with the application includes: Planning Statement Design and Access Statement (including 3D visualisations) Transport Statement Ecology Report Outline Construction and Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) Results of the applicant’s voluntary pre-application consultation event, attended by 128 visitors in January. DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES: Local Development Plan 2016 PMD1: Sustainability PMD2: Quality Standards PMD5: Infill Development ED2: Employment Uses out with Business and Industrial Land ED5: Regeneration ED9: Renewable Energy Development HD3: Protection of Residential Amenity EP1: International Nature Conservation Sites and Protected Species EP2: National Nature Conservation Sites and Protected Species EP3: Local Biodiversity EP5: Special Landscape Areas EP7: Listed Buildings EP8: Archaeology EP9: Conservation Areas EP10: Gardens and Designed Landscapes EP11: Protection of Greenspace EP14: Coastline EP15: Development Affecting the Water Environment EP16: Air Quality IS5: Protection of Access Routes IS7: Parking Provision and Standards IS8: Flooding IS9: Waste Water Treatment and SUDS IS13: Contaminated Land SESplan Strategic Development Plan 2013 1A – The Spatial Strategy: Development Locations OTHER PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS: Biodiversity Supplementary Planning Guidance 2005 Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy Supplementary Planning Guidance 2001 Designing Out Crime in the Borders Supplementary Planning Guidance 2007 Green Space Supplementary Planning Guidance 2009 Local Biodiversity Action Plan Supplementary Planning Guidance 2001 Local Landscape Designations Supplementary Planning Guidance 2012 Placemaking and Design Supplementary Planning Guidance 2010 Renewable Energy Supplementary Guidance 2018 Sustainable