Planning Committee - August 2019

This document contains a notice of meetings for the Cairngorms National Park Authority on 16 August 2019, to be held in Albert Hall, Ballater. The Formal Board Meeting will be at 10.45am, and the Planning Committee Meeting will follow. The agenda and papers for the Board meeting will be available on the Monday of the week of the meeting on the Park Authority website. For access or other requirements, contact the Cairngorms National Park Authority office in advance.

This document contains the agenda for the Cairngorms National Park Authority's Planning Committee meeting on 16 August 2019. The meeting will follow the formal board meeting at Albert Hall in Ballater. The agenda includes welcomes, apologies, minutes from the previous meeting on 28 June 2019, declaration of interest by members, and an application for detailed planning permission to replace a bridge near Cairngorm Mountain (recommended for approval subject to conditions). Additionally, the committee will receive information on the Development Plan Scheme 2019/2020, an oral update on a planning appeal for a car park formation near Carrbridge, an update on the Beauly-Denny Transmission Line Project Restoration Monitoring, any other business, and the date of the next meeting and quorum requirement.

This document contains information about a planning application to replace a pedestrian bridge over the Allt Mor River in the Cairngorms National Park. The proposed new bridge will be located slightly downstream of the current one, which is in a state of disrepair. The application was submitted by Mrs Kelly McKellar on 13 February 2019 and the recommendation is to approve it, subject to certain conditions. The site is located within an area with environmental designations including the Cairngorms Special Protection Area and the River Spey Special Area of Conservation, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) were consulted. The proposed bridge has been designed to be more flood-resilient and is planned to be constructed using helicopters to minimise disturbance to wildlife, and its approval is subject to certain conditions such as pre-construction surveys for protected species.

This document contains plans for Agenda Item 5, Appendix I, project number 2019/0051/DET. It includes an overall plan for Forest Enterprise Scotland in Glen More Forest Park, showing the location of Utsi's Bridge. The document details construction plans by Forestry Commission Scotland for Utsi's Bridge in Glenmore, North Region, showing site plans, elevations, and ramp details for an aerial-mast bridge with two 14-metre clear spans. It specifies materials, dimensions, and construction notes, including timber specifications and steelwork details, with revisions up to 15 April 2019.

This document contains an appraisal for the proposed temporary replacement of Utsi's Bridge in the Cairngorms National Park, agenda item 5, appendix 2 on 16 August 2019. The document assesses the potential impact of the bridge replacement on nearby Natura sites (protected nature sites), including the Cairngorms Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Cairngorms Special Protection Area (SPA), and River Spey SAC. The proposal involves temporarily replacing a bridge downstream of the current one, and the document reviews the potential effects on various species and habitats, including capercaillie, Scottish crossbill, otters, salmon, and Caledonian Forest. It concludes that there's a likely significant effect but no adverse effect on the integrity of the protected sites, if recommendations such as carrying out surveys for green shield moss, otters and wood ants are conducted before construction. The Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) Environmental Forester also imposed daylight working hours to mitigate disturbance to mammals and birds.

This document contains the community council comment for planning application 2019/0051/DET, which was agenda item 5, appendix 3 for the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee on 16 August 2019. The comment from Aviemore and Vicinity Community Council is that they have no comment on the planning application. Dot Harris, a Planning Support Officer at the Cairngorms National Park Authority, sent a notification of Call-In for the planning application and details about the application can be found on the eplanningcnpa.co.uk website.

This document contains a proposal for the Cairngorms National Park Authority's Planning Committee to consider and approve the Development Plan Scheme (DPS) for 2019/20. All planning authorities in Scotland must produce an annually updated DPS, which outlines how they are working to adopt and review their Local Development Plan (LDP). The DPS includes a timetable for producing the LDP and explains how local residents and other interested groups can get involved. The current LDP for the Cairngorms National Park was adopted on 27 March 2015 and lasts for five years, so work is underway to have a new LDP (LDP2) in place by April 2020. The proposed DPS for 2019/20 sets out the timetable for preparing LDP2 and explains the key stages of public involvement. Key remaining milestones include submission of the Proposed Plan for examination in September 2019 and adoption of LDP2 in April 2020. The DPS for 2018/19 will be published and sent to interested parties, and progress in producing LDP2 will be monitored.

This document contains information about the Cairngorms National Park Authority's (Park Authority) Local Development Plan (LDP) for 2020, known as LDP2. It explains how the Park Authority is preparing the plan, which will guide development in the National Park after 2020. It encourages people to get involved in the process, outlining key stages, past consultations, and future opportunities to participate. The document also provides contact details for those who want to stay informed or have questions, and a project plan summary.

This document contains a progress update on the Beauly to Denny transmission line project within the Cairngorms National Park. The project, which involved constructing a transmission line, began in 2012 and was completed in 2016. Following concerns about restoration efforts in certain areas, Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) agreed to a monitoring scheme. While the year three monitoring report shows some improvement, certain areas still require further work due to poor soil conditions and grazing. Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) acknowledges that further intervention and potentially an extension of the monitoring scheme may be necessary, and the Cairngorms National Park Authority (Park Authority) officers will seek an agreement with Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) on additional measures, with findings reported to the Planning Committee.

This document contains information about the Year 3 (2018) restoration monitoring of the Beauly-Denny Replacement Transmission Line. The report covers roughly 200km of the 400kV overhead line within the Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission plc (SHE Transmission) licence area, which includes 539 steel lattice towers and associated access tracks. In 2018, monitoring was conducted on tower compounds, spur roads, and access tracks, categorizing them based on vegetative cover, habitat type, species, and any issues like overgrazing or water pooling. A "red-amber-green" system was used to classify restoration status, with red indicating sparse restoration, amber indicating revegetation, and green indicating complete restoration. Overall, out of 46.2km of access track, 18.4% was flagged as red, 68.5% as amber, and 13.1% as green; out of the 539 tower compounds, 2.97% were flagged as red, 60.48% as amber, 36.18% as green, and two locations could not be monitored. The report recommends case-by-case management intervention for sites classified as red.

This document contains the Cairngorms National Park Authority's Planning Committee Agenda Item 8 Appendix 1 from 16 August 2019. It focuses on the Beauly-Denny Transmission Line Project, specifically providing colour-coded maps in Appendix 4 of tower compounds and access tracks. These maps, created by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, show the locations of towers and access routes in relation to the Cairngorms National Park in 2010, using a legend with symbols for features such as "Amber", "Green" and "Other".