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MINUTE OF MEETING of the REGULATORY COMMITTEE held within the Council Chamber, Greenfield, Alloa, on THURSDAY 23rd August 2007.

PRESENTCouncillor Alastair Campbell (Convener)

Councillor Tina Murphy (Vice Convener)

Councillor Mark English
Councillor Walter McAdam

Councillor Bobby McGill

Councillor Harry McLaren

Councillor Ref. Sam Ovens
Provost Derek Stewart

Councillor Gary Womersley

IN ATTENDANCEStephen Bell, Head of Development Services

Ian Duguid, Development Quality Team Leader

Lisa Simpson, Legal Services Manager (Clerk to the Committee)

APOLOGIES for absence were received from Councillor Kenneth Earle and Councillor George Matchett. *Councillor Rev. Sam Ovens attended as substitute for Councillor Matchett.

REG(07)18MINUTE OF MEETING HELD ON 12th JULY 2007

There was submitted a minute of the meeting held on Thursday 12th July 2007, a copy of which had been circulated previously to each Member.

The minute of the meeting held on Thursday 12th July 2007 was accepted as a correct record and signed by the Convener.

REG(07)19PLANNING APPLICATION

Planning Application: Erection of 1 no. house on land north of pond at Kersiepow Access Road, Alva, Clackmannanshire (Ref. 07/00141/FULL)

There was submitted a report by Grant Baxter, Principal Planner, a copy of which had been circulated previously to each Member.

Councillor Murphy moved the recommendation as set out in the report. Seconded by Councillor Campbell.

Amendment

“To defer consideration of the application until December 2007 to allow the applicant to provide evidence on the viability of the business.”

Moved by Provost Stewart. Seconded by Councillor McGill.

The amendment was defeated by 7 votes to 2.

On a division of 7 votes to 0, with 2 abstentions, the Committee agreed to REFUSE the application for the following reasons:

  1. The proposed house is not justified by the operational requirement of a rural business. The business as a whole is not capable of providing the whole or main source of livelihood for its occupant. The justification for the new house and viability of the business is not clear. As such, the proposed development is contrary to Policy H6 of the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Structure Plan 2002 and Policy EN18 of the Clackmannanshire Local Plan 2004.
  2. It has not been demonstrated that a countryside location is essential for the proposed development, and there are no exceptional circumstances that would justify development in the Green Belt. As such, the proposed development is contrary to Policy ENV 4 of the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Structure Plan 2002 and Policy EN19 of the Clackmannanshire Local Plan 2004.
  3. The proposed development, by virtue of the house design and finishing materials and absence of landscaping and planting scheme would not significantly enhance the Green Belt nor positively contribute to the immediate environment. As such, the proposed development is contrary to Policies ENV 3; ENV 4; ENV 5 of the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Structure Plan 2002 and Policies EN 2; EN 11; EN 18; EN 19 of the Clackmannanshire Local Plan 2004.
  4. The proposed development would result in the increased use of a private access on a section of unrestricted distributor road, where traffic speeds are high. In the absence of any exceptional justification for the development, the potential conflict between traffic turning onto and off the private access and through traffic on the distributor road would be detrimental to road safety.
  5. The site lies in an area that may be at risk from flooding during a 0.5 (1 in 200 years) flooding event on the River Devon. Insufficient information has been submitted to determine the extent of any flood risk and suitable mitigation measures to deal with it. As such, the proposed development is contrary to Policy ENV 9 of the Clackmannanshire and Stirling Structure Plan 2002 and Policy EN 4 of the Clackmannanshire Local Plan 2004.

Action: Stephen Bell, Head of Development Services

REG(07)17REVIEW OF ORAL SUBMISSIONS PROCEDURE IN RELATION TO “SUPPORTERS” OF DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS

There was submitted a report by Stephen Bell, Head of Development Services, a copy of which had been circulated previously to each Member.

The Committee agreed that the Scheme allowing oral submissions at Regulatory Committee remains unaltered.

Action: Stephen Bell, Head of Development Services