A farmer has expressed delight that permission has finally been granted for holiday accommodation for disabled people in a rural part of North-East Fife.
Moira Henderson, of Ring Farm, Chance Inn, near Cupar, told The Courier the decision to approve planning permission for two self-catering cottages at the farm after a four-year battle was “great news” not only for her but for those with disabilities who find their holiday options severely limited.
However, with the planning process drawn out over many years, she is urging Fife Council to review its planning procedures, saying she almost lost the Scottish Rural Development Grant funding that was critical for the project to go forward.
Mrs Henderson, a former chairwoman of the Scottish Egg Producer Retailers’ Association, who has farmed at Ring Farm with her husband David for 26 years, said: “The Rings will be a very special destination for families and groups who have had some serious challenges in life.
“The Rings are about equality, to enable all the family or group to holiday together, something many of us takes for granted.
“I would hope Fife Council will review their planning procedures so they will come into line with the rest of Scotland and protect the “applicant” by adhering to the “important dates” laid down in planning legislation to prevent the planning process being prolonged.
“Small businesses cannot cope with this level of delay, neither can those desperate for holiday destinations with accessible needs.”
A previous application was turned down for a two-storey building, deemed to be too big for its location. An appeal was also rejected by a Scottish Government reporter.
But the new application for a single-storey unit was overwhelmingly approved on Wednesday by Fife Council’s North-East Fife planning committee.
Recommending approval, Fife Council service manager Alastair Hamilton said 56 representations including NHS Fife and other organisations representing specialist, related interest groups had been submitted in support of the need for specialist tourist holiday accommodation of this type.
The supporters had also stated they were impressed by the design, which would be sustainable and merge into the landscape.
However, 12 objections had also been submitted, including one from Ceres Community Council. Concerns included claims it would be contrary to local plan policies, that increased traffic would be dangerous and that proposed access would have substandard visibility sightlines at the junction with the public road.
Mr Hamilton said the principle of the development at this location as a farm diversification/tourist-related development is supported by national and local development policies.
He said policy requirements were also met in terms of visual and environmental impact for a development of this type. The visual amenity concerns of the appeal reporter have been also addressed by reducing the height and introducing a shallow-pitched, growing roof.
Moving approval, Cupar councillor Bryan Poole, seconded by Taybridgehead councillor Bill Connor, said the proposal was a “significant improvement” on the application rejected previously.
Howe of Fife councillor David MacDiarmid said he thought the development was a “fantastic idea but in the wrong place”. He failed to find a seconder, however, and the application was overwhelmingly approved.