Scone Balgarvie Mill site gets provisional nod from Perth and Kinross Council

Feb 12 2010 Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A REVISED plan for 39 new homes in Scone was yesterday given the provisional nod.

Perth and Kinross Council’s development control committee will on Wednesday consider a report prepared by council officer Nick Brian, who has recommended ‘green-lighting’ the former Balgarvie Mill site plan.

The application, which attracted 15 letters of objection, now features four less flats than in an earlier application.

Plans show four blocks housing 15, 10, eight and six homes. Three blocks are three storeys tall – one with an extra two-storey wing – and the fourth two storeys high.

A total of 78 private parking spaces are included, along with six extra spaces for members of the Angus Road church.

But locals argue the flats are out of character with the area and will create problems of overlooking, loss of privacy, overshadowing and loss of natural light.

In his report, Mr Brian agrees that the development will have a visual impact due to its relatively central location, but argues that the former mill was “significantly more imposing on the streetscape”.

The original mill was demolished in the late 1990s and more recently the site – about 150m west from Angus Road – has been cleared.

“I accept that the mill building is now gone, however its former presence should be noted and duly considered in the context of this application,” Mr Brian wrote.

On the issue of residential amenity impact, he said Myrtle Road homes had a hedge barrier, while new flats would have opaque glazing, ensuring privacy.

In response to objections about overlooking concerns on Murrayshall Road, the developer has reduced a residential block from three storeys to a “far more acceptable” two.