Wolfhill development plans worry locals

Oct 28 2011 by Greg Christison, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PLANS for new houses in a Perthshire village sparked an angry response from residents yesterday.

After receiving outline consent in July 2009, landowners J Fenton and Sons have lodged plans with Perth and Kinross Council to erect 14 homes on a site west of Wolfhill’s Fraser Avenue after their original detailed proposal was withdrawn earlier this year.

With an array of objections raised by disgruntled locals in previous applications, one enraged complainer claimed they were not being listened to.

Unleashing his fury on PKC’s planning portal, Mark Taylor, said: “The new application does little/nothing to address the main points that the residents of Wolfhill have very clearly raised as issues.

“It has also done very little/nothing to change the plans that the development quality manager has already told them are not acceptable and would not be supported.

“This is the third time this application has been put forward with no involvement from the local residents.

“It's the second time that the local residents’ and the development quality manager’s comments/objections have been ignored.

“Is this a war of attrition? Do you allow the developer to continually submit plans that do not adhere to your comments, until we (collectively) give in, and they get their way to the detriment of the village?”

In Mr Taylor’s no-holds-barred tirade he encourages councillors to reject the latest bid due to the potential loss of privacy to existing households, overlooking issues and an alleged detrimental effect on the character of Wolfhill.

He also highlighted that access to the proposed houses would be problematic and could pose a danger.

He continued: “The chair [of PKC’s development control committee] stated that the developer should liaise and work with the villagers to discuss his proposals prior to applying for full planning permission.

“This has not been done. The developer has ignored us and not involved us at any stage of these plans.

“To say we are angry and bitterly disappointed is an understatement. Why, if it's not in accordance with the outline planning permission granted, is this being allowed to continue?”

Neither the applicant nor his agent were available for comment yesterday.

Meanwhile, PKC has received proposals for 13 homes with associated garages, parking and roads infrastructure in Scone.

A 0.5-hectare plot of land to the east of the village’s Stormont Road, currently accommodating lock-up garages, an electricity sub-station and grassland, is earmarked for a mixture of detached and semi-detached homes by applicants SMS (Perth) Ltd.

A similar bid in 2008 was rejected by PKC due to the “irreversible loss of green space in the area”.