Scottish Borders Council Planning and Building Standards Committee
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Item No 4 SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL PLANNING AND BUILDING STANDARDS COMMITTEE MINUTE of MEETING of the PLANNING AND BUILDING STANDARDS COMMITTEE held in the Council Headquarters, Newtown St. Boswells on 9 April 2012 at 10.00 a.m. ------------------ Present: - Councillors J. Houston (Chairman), N. Calvert, J. Fullarton, T. Jones, G. Logan, J. Mitchell, D. Moffat, C. Riddell-Carre, R. Smith, N. Watson, T. Weatherston, Apologies:- Councillor J. Brown, In Attendance:- Development Manager (Applications), Road User Senior Technician, Plans and Research Manager, Managing Solicitor – Commercial Services, Committee and Elections Team Leader, Committee and Elections Officer (F. Walling). ORDER OF BUSINESS 1. The Chairman informed Members that items 5(e) and 11 of the agenda had been withdrawn. He also varied the order of business as shown on the agenda and the Minute reflects the order in which the items were considered at the meeting. MINUTE 2. There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the Meeting of 12 March 2012. DECISION APPROVED for signature by the Chairman. APPLICATIONS 3. There had been circulated copies of reports by the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services on applications for planning permission requiring consideration by the Committee. DECISION DEALT with the applications as detailed in Appendix 1 to this Minute. DRAFT MINI PLANNING BRIEF – FORMER ROYAL HOTEL, STOW 4. There had been circulated copies of a report by the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services seeking approval for the draft Supplementary Planning Guidance mini planning brief for the former Royal Hotel site, Stow, as appended to the report, to be used as a basis for public consultation for a 12 week period. The site, located off Townfoot Road, Stow, was currently vacant following the recent demolition of the former Royal Hotel buildings. The site was also allocated within the Adopted Local Plan 2011 as a 0.2 hectare mixed use site with an indicative capacity of 11 units. The mini planning brief set out the main opportunities and constraints for the redevelopment of the site and provided an indicative framework vision for the site. It aimed to lead to a high quality redevelopment in the heart of the Stow Conservation Area. As part of the redevelopment of this site in Stow the Council proposed the relocation of the public toilets to a location closer to community venues. Members welcomed the proposals for this vacant site. The draft mini planning brief would be subject to a 12 week public consultation period and the comments received taken into consideration in the finalisation of the brief. DECISION AGREED:- (a) to approve the draft Supplementary Planning Guidance mini planning brief for the former Royal Hotel site, Stow, as detailed in Appendix A to the report, as a basis 1 Item No 4 for public consultation for a 12 week period, and to report back any substantive comments to this committee: and (b) that if there were no substantive comments arising from the consultation the brief be delegated for approval to the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services. DRAFT PLANNING BRIEF – DUNS PRIMARY SCHOOL 5. There had been circulated copies of a report by the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services seeking approval for the draft planning brief for the Duns Primary School site, as appended to the report, to be used as a basis for public consultation for a 12 week period. The existing Primary School site was located within close proximity to the centre of Duns and was bounded to the east by residential properties, to the south by agricultural land, the west by residential properties and to the north by the A6105. Duns Primary School had severe capacity issues as a result of recent developments in the catchment area and it was expected that it would relocate to the Former High School buildings. It was explained that the Duns Primary School site had a developable area of approximately 2.9 hectares and was located immediately adjacent to the Duns Conservation Area. As an allocated redevelopment opportunity, potential uses for the site included housing, employment, or a mix of uses which could include community uses and open space. If the site was developed for solely residential use, it had an indicative capacity of 45 units, including affordable units. The brief included a plan to illustrate linkage of the site to adjoining allocated housing sites, longer term mixed used sites and the A6105. DECISION AGREED:- (a) to approve the draft planning brief for the Duns Primary School site, as detailed in Appendix A to the report, as a basis for public consultation for a 12 week period, and to report back any substantive comments to this committee: and (b) that if there were no substantive comments arising from the consultation the brief be delegated for approval to the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services. DRAFT PLANNING BRIEF – TODLAW PLAYING FIELDS, DUNS 6. There had been circulated copies of a report by the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services seeking approval for the draft planning brief for the Todlaw Playing Fields site, Duns, as appended to the report, to be used as a basis for public consultation for a 12 week period. The report explained that the site, of existing playing fields at Todlaw, was located within relatively close proximity to the centre of Duns and was bounded by residential properties to the east, by the public park to the north east and by open ground to the north and west. To the south lay an open area of ground and beyond that was a recent housing development by Berwickshire Housing Association. The 2 hectare site was allocated for housing in the Consolidated Local Plan 2011 with an indicative capacity of 30 units. There was currently a rugby pitch on the site which would need to be relocated, most likely to the site of the former Berwickshire High School site before any on site development commenced. The main access from the site would be via the allocated housing land to the south. In order to ensure good practice connectivity within the area the brief indicated where access routes should be formed from the site and where the site should be linked with adjoining land. DECISION AGREED:- (a) to approve the draft planning brief for the Todlaw Playing Fields site, Duns, as detailed in Appendix A to the report, as a basis for public consultation for a 12 week period, and to report back any substantive comments to this committee: and b) that if there were no substantive comments arising from the consultation the brief be delegated for approval to the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services. 2 Item No 4 DRAFT MINI PLANNING BRIEF – RENWICK GARDENS & WEST RENWICK GARDENS, MOREBATTLE 7. There had been circulated copies of a report by the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services seeking approval for the draft mini planning brief for the Renwick Gardens and West Renwick Gardens sites, in Morebattle. The draft brief, appended to the report, was to be used as a basis for public consultation for a 12 week period. The report explained that there were two housing allocations within Morebattle identified in the Consolidated Local Plan; Renwick Gardens had a site area of 0.4 hectares and an indicative housing capacity of 9 units and West Renwick Gardens had a site area of 1.3 hectares and an indicative capacity of 20 units. The site at Renwick Gardens was located to the east of the existing Eildon Housing development of ‘Renwick Gardens’. The site was currently used as a playing field with a small area being used as allotments. These uses were informal and they would not appear to have the benefit of formal planning consent. The site could be accessed via the existing housing development of Renwick Gardens. The site at West Renwick Gardens was located at the western edge of Morebattle, fronts onto the B6401 and adjoined the aforementioned site. The land was currently in arable use and there were no existing buildings on the site. Access to the site would be taken from the B6401 and the site would have a pedestrian link to the Primary School and village centre. As the two adjacent housing allocations had similar characteristics, opportunities and constraints it was proposed that the mini brief could cover both sites together. Members were happy with the draft planning brief but asked for the photograph of housing on an adjacent site on page 2 of the brief to be replaced with another example to better illustrate the type of design required. DECISION AGREED:- (a) to approve the draft mini planning brief for the Renwick Gardens and West Renwick Gardens sites, Morebattle, as detailed in Appendix A to the report, as a basis for public consultation for a 12 week period, and to report back any substantive comments to this committee: and (b) that if there were no substantive comments arising from the consultation the brief be delegated for approval to the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services. SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING GUIDANCE – REPLACEMENT WINDOWS 8. With reference to paragraph 3 of the Minute of 11 August 2008, there had been circulated copies of a report by the Head of Planning and Regulatory Services seeking approval for the updated Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) on Replacement windows, attached as Appendix A to the report, as a material consideration in the determination of applications. The report explained that the updated SPG on replacement windows had been prepared following the publication of Historic Scotland’s Managing Change in the Historic Environment Guidance Note: Windows which included a change in policy stance relating to circumstances where double glazing may be acceptable.