Perth needs to protect its centre

Sep 26 2008 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PERTH’S senior planner met again with the business community this week and tackled thorny subjects ranging from Western Edge gridlock to the council’s vision for the city centre and concerted efforts to improve the planning application system.

Roland Bean, head of planning with Perth and Kinross Council, stressed that the city centre was vital for the future wellbeing of Perth and Kinross – and it had to be protected.

He told a Perthshire Chamber of Commerce lunch at the Salutation Hotel that several major planning proposals were coming forward aimed at out-of-town retailing.

Mr Bean wanted to see development to the west of Perth driven by housing and business rather than retail.

Adopting a broad brush stance, he said the council was keen to protect and enhance the quality, independent retail sector in the heart of Perth.

And he challenged the business community to come forward with their own ambitious blueprint to enhance the shopping experience in the core of the city.

He warned the new shopping street planned for the Woolworths building would take several years to advance but Mr Bean remained confident the delayed City Hall “Covent Garden” style makeover would still go through despite the fall-out from the Credit Crunch.

He stressed that while there was concern over the level of empty shops, Perth was better placed than many cities. Some were the wrong shape or size for contemporary retailing and he called for local developers to band together and invest in a new-look infrastructure.

Mr Bean admitted the council’s planning department had been in dire straits at one stage, with a staff shortage and an ever-increasing volume of applications clogging-up the system.

But that had been turned around over the last 18 months and he was confident improved performance levels would be maintained or even enhanced further. Perth and Kinross was set to be the leading growth area in Scotland and that was reflected in the volume of work landing on the planners’ desks. Their workload was in excess of government guidelines.

With 10 of Scotland’s 22 proposed wind farm projects in Perth and Kinross, that had exacerbated the burden.

Mr Bean said public interest in the planning process was growing and that had to be handled without overwhelming the department.

Nearly 70 per cent of household applications were being dealt with in two months and 90 per cent of applications were approved. But he noted that last month nearly one in three applications were flawed. The rest had to be returned for the correct information.

In the near future, e-planning would enable the public to lodge applications mirroring hotel and flight bookings.

Mr Bean was also encouraging more pre-application consultation by developers, instancing work carried out by housebuilders A and J Stephen at Errol and Guildtown, designed to bring on board a community at an early stage

PERTH Chamber of Commerce president Mike Beale has unveiled plans to progress the business community’s vision for the future of Perth.

Following on from April’s groundbreaking conference in the Concert Hall, the Chamber is gathering up to 40 representatives ranging from tourism, transport and agriculture to the police, health board and council to map out their visions for future development in the countdown to 2030.

REFERRING to Crieff Road gridlock fears, Mr Bean said the council had been working closely with landowners and talking with Transport Scotland to come up with a solution. A northern relief road and another river crossing beyond Scone was also being pursued. A revamped Perth Station was also progressing with Network Rail.