New rules have held up a developer’s bid to overturn a refusal for two new Arbroath houses near the town’s Domino’s pizza outlet.
And John Carswell’s challenge is just one of a growing number of cases Angus planners are having to re-consider.
Others include a plan for a large country house near Forfar.
The red tape has already held up a final decision on a proposal for a new crematorium near Duntrune.
But farmer Guthrie Batchelor was finally successful this week in winning his appeal against the 2021 refusal for the project.
Arbroath appeal
Carswell Properties sought permission in principle for two two-storey houses on a piece of ground between Condor Drive and Keptie Road.
The corner site sits beside housing built for families of servicemen at the nearby 45 Commando Royal Marines base.
Planners refused the application last year under delegated powers.
They said it breached a number of council development policies and would lead to the loss of open space.
Applicants can appeal delegated refusal decisions to the council’s five-strong development management review committee.
The Arbroath scheme was one of three due to be considered recently by DMRC members.
Another was the refusal of a large house on land beside Hunter’s Cabins holiday lodges at Justinhaugh, north of Forfar.
It was rejected in October after officials said it would not be a “large country house of such exceptional design quality that it would make a significant contribution to the architectural and landscape heritage of Angus.”
The authority’s under-pressure planning team is having to re-examine applications following the introduction of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF 4).
It came into force in February.
And every Scottish planning application must now be assessed against the policy.
The Scottish Government say it is aimed at building a “fairer, greener” Scotland.
And it is likely to lead to more approvals for projects which will bring former industrial or derelict sites back into community use.
But Angus planners have warned councillors over the risk of making decisions on planning applications refused prior to the policy coming into being.
They say the council could be open to judicial review challenge if the proper procedures are not followed.
It means both planners and developers are being asked to re-submit comments in relation to NPF4.
And it is delaying appeal cases by weeks.
‘Unsatisfactory’
DMRC chairman Bill Duff said: “We’re in this intermediary position where decisions of the planning authority were taken before February and they didn’t take cognisance of NPF4.
“It’s a bit unsatisfactory, but I don’t think there’s any way of avoiding it so we’re just going to have to put up with that.
“We’ve a procedure and we need to follow that to the letter.
“If we don’t there’s issues of legality that could be challenged because we haven’t followed procedure in a case with the full information in front of us.”
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