Angus councillors have become caught in a web of red tape around the planned re-development of historic Montrose harbour buildings.
And it led the area’s planning appeal body chairman to suggest the body is a waste of time after it was told their hands were tied against giving the green-light to the multi-million pound schemes.
It leaves fuel and shipping firm J R Rix in limbo over what can be done with crumbling listed buildings at the Angus port.
The company has been seeking permission for separate applications related to old sheds at Meridian Street and America Street.
Both sites are C-listed.
Rix wants to :
- Demolish the 120-year-old building at 4 Meridian Street and replacement with a larger warehouse
- Redevelop 1-5 America Street to create a store/offices and two-storey car park.
Historic Environment Scotland objected and said not enough had been done to protect the buildings from dereliction.
Rix say brick-by-brick re-building is economically unviable.
And Montrose Port backed both applications as part of the port’s continuing strategic development.
The Meridian Street scheme was refused by Angus planners in June 2023. Rix appealed the decision to Scottish Ministers but that decision was upheld.
America Street proposal was also refused in 2023. And the listed building consent bid was also rejected by Holyrood.
Why did the applications hit trouble again?
Rix lodged appeals for both sites with Angus Development Management Review Committee (DMRC).
It is a sub-committee of the council’s development standards body. And the group deals with challenges against decisions taken under delegated powers.
But at the latest DMRC meeting to consider both Rix bids, the three-strong committee was effectively advised by planning and legal bosses that its hands were tied due to planning rules.
Committee chairman Gavin Nicol had been minded to approve both schemes.
But he was warned any DMRC approval would be impossible to implement because of planning policy rules.
He fumed: “We’re reading through pages of reports and we’re going on site visits – just to be told there’s nothing we can do about it.
“These buildings are not fit for purpose. I am in favour of demolition.
“I’m not picking on officers – it’s just a frustration in the dead-end policies we’re going down.
“It should be coming in front of us for a pass or fail decision.
“It shouldn’t be coming to us for a confirmed fail,” said the Brechin and Edzell member.
“We’re the DMRC, we’re working for the people in the area.
“Why are we even coming into these meetings if we’re not able to do anything?”
Brechin councillor Chris Beattie added: “I’d like to know how we get to a situation where we’re looking at an appeal that we can’t actually do anything with.
“How does that work? “This is hugely frustrating.
“I think I’m going to have to reject the appeal but it just doesn’t feel very democratic.”
Rix says it is considering its position in relation to the buildings.
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