MIR572 Doing things digitally is our preference. Tick the box if you are not happy to receive correspondence via email: Tick the box if you would like to subscribe to the Aberdeenshire LDP eNewsletter: x Fair processing notice Please tick to confirm your agreement to the following statements: x By submitting a response to the consultation, I agree that Aberdeenshire Council can use the information provided in this form, including my personal data, as part of the review of the Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan. This will include consultation on the Main Issues Report (including any subsequent Proposed Plan). 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The Data Protection Officers can be contacted by writing to: ° Mr Andrew Lawson, Data Protection Officer, Aberdeenshire Council, Business Services, Town House, 34 Low Street, Banff, AB45 1AY If you have difficulty understanding this document and require a translation, or you need help reading this document (for example if you need it in a different format or in another language), please phone us on 01467 536230. The site sits within the Harlaw Battlefield designation, but was previously allocated for future housing development in the 2012 Local Development Plan. At that stage Bancon Homes were requested to produce a landscape impact assessment to demonstrate compatibility of the proposed development with the battlefield. This was done, and accepted as appropriate by the Councils Archaeology Service. The report was appended to the Local Development Plan bid, and yet the site is reported to have an unacceptable impact upon the battlefield. There is no justification provided for the u-turn in opinion from Aberdeenshire Council on this key matter. There is no apparent evidence for the boundary of the Harlaw Battlefield designation – which is marked on the East by the B9001 road – a road that was most likely not there in 1411! Evidence suggests that the battle took place on the hilltop, where the monument was erected in 1911. The appended Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (appendix 2) considers the surrounding landscape, primarily the potential impact of development in this area on the Harlaw Battlefield, and identifies that with suitable structural landscaping, the site is suitable for development, and that landscape and biodiversity benefits can be provided through the development of the site. The report also demonstrates that the proposed development area has no detrimental impact on the Harlaw Monument itself, contrary to the reporting in the Main Issues Report. It is concerning that a detailed landscape and visual impact assessment, requested by the Council, has been entirely ignored as part of the process of preparing the Main Issues Report, despite previous agreement on its content. The Main Issues Report also notes that the site ‘cannot be considered until a preferred route for the dualling of the A96 has been selected and the timescale for delivery is known’. It is submitted that this is both misleading and unreasonable. The principle constraint for expansion of Inverurie is transport related, but it is not the purpose of the dualling of the A96 to address this. Equally, detailed Transport Assessment work demonstrates that a scale of development is deliverable on a number of sites without unacceptable impacts on the road network, including up to 200 units on the East Balhalgardy site. The development of the site in the short term, for either the 100 or 200 units identified in bids GR0057 and GR0058, is therefore entirely reasonable. The executive summary of the transport assessment is appended (appendix 1) Furthermore, Transport Scotland have committed to confirming the proposed route by the end of 2019. With the dualling project to be completed by 2030. There is every chance that the section of the route that will bypass Inverurie will be delivered early in the programme, and therefore well within the timescale of the Local Development Plan. None of the routes being considered by Transport Scotland directly impact on the development site, an therefore cannot be considered a constraint to delivery of housing. Inverurie is a key settlement in Aberdeenshire, and continued development will enable the delivery of a new secondary school, and contribute towards other infrastructure improvements – including improvements to the local roads network. Stifling development will not facilitate any improvements and will simply exacerbate current issues. It is therefore submitted that the East Balhalgardy site should be identified in the Local Development Plan for the delivery of 100-200 additional houses in the 2021-31 plan period, assuming that no substantial roads infrastructure solutions are to be incorporated into the proposals for the town. However, should an alternate view be taken that more housing land around the town should be allocated to facilitate the delivery of roads infrastructure improvements on a cumulative basis, then the site could accommodate up to 500 units, in accordance with the Transport Assessment and Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments appended to this representation. Prepared by: . .... Checked by: ............ Senior Consultant Principal Consultant Approved by .. Rev No Comments Checked by Approved Date by 1 Final DM 01/10/2010 225 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4GZ Telephone: 0141 222 6400 Website: http://www.aecom.com Job No 60159916 Reference Executive Summary Date Created September 2010 This document is confidential and the copyright of AECOM Limited. Any unauthorised reproduction or usage by any person other than the addressee is strictly prohibited. f:\proposals\dev - inverurie\11 - reports\inverurie masterplan exec summary.doc AECOM 4 Capabilities on project: Transportation The above allocations are proposed by Aberdeenshire Councils as the preferred sites for development, however alternative locations are available within Inverurie which will have significant benefits. This would be particularly important in the Phase 1 period where major infrastructure improvements would not be feasible in terms of timescales or available funding. Sustainable locations which can integrate into the existing infrastructure will be of paramount importance as they will not be reliant upon private car use, and will subsequently minimise the impact upon the road network until such time as infrastructure improvements can be provided. The Development Proposal The Bancon proposals would see four distinct areas developed around Inverurie with the following maximum housing densities: 1. Ardtannes - maximum 100 dwellings 2. Balhalgardy - maximum 500 dwellings 3. Conglass - maximum 200 dwellings 4. Keithhall - maximum 700 dwellings The above sites have been considered in conjunction with other LDP sites and differing levels of development in order to gain an appreciation of which allocations are best suited in terms of the local road network and sustainability. A major new piece of infrastructure has also been considered in the form of a new distributor road to the east of Inverurie. The new distributor road, referred to as the Keithhall Link Road (KLR), will connect from the B9170 Oldmeldrum Road in the north, to the A96(T) Thainstone Roundabout in the south. The new road will allow a bypass route of Inverurie town centre, which will alleviate a heavily trafficked route and provide a long term future for further housing within Inverurie. Accessibility There is a good level of existing walking, cycling, and public transport provision located adjacent to the Bancon sites. A combination of Wider Network Core Paths, Existing Proposed Core Paths, and New Proposed Core Paths, are located next to the respective Bancon sites. To facilitate safe and convenient access by walking and cycling, each site would be capable of providing the required infrastructure connections to the core path network. All footway improvements would be designed in