Planning Committee - September 2024

This document contains the agenda for the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee meeting on 27 September 2024 at 11am, which is being held online. The agenda includes items such as welcome, apologies, declarations of interest, approval of minutes, a decision on the Rothes III Wind Farm, any other competent business, approval of confidential minutes, enforcement updates, and the date of the next meeting which is scheduled for 8 November 2024. Some items will be discussed in a confidential session.

This document contains the draft minutes of the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee meeting held on 9 August 2024. The meeting covered several planning applications, including a retrospective application for a borrow pit, repairs to an estate track, new housing units, sediment trap construction, and adventure play equipment at Cairngorm Mountain. The committee discussed and voted on amendments and conditions for these applications, addressing concerns related to environmental impact, visual amenity, and adherence to planning regulations. Additionally, the Director of Planning and Place provided updates on appeal decisions and enforcement notices, and the committee agreed to move to a confidential session. The next meeting is scheduled for 27 September 2024.

This document contains a committee report for the planning committee meeting on 27 September 2024, regarding a proposed variation to the Rothes III Wind Farm. The application seeks permission to increase the tip height of three turbines from 149.9m to 200m. The wind farm is located near Rothes village, outside the Cairngorms National Park, and the Scottish Government is the determining authority due to the project's output exceeding 50 MW. The committee's recommendation is to not object to the proposed variation, as it aligns with the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) and the National Park Partnership Plan (NPPP), and NatureScot has advised that the proposal will not impact on natural heritage interests of national interest.

This document contains an appendix related to Agenda Item 5 for the Cairngorms National Park Authority's Planning Committee meeting on 27 September 2024. It specifically concerns application 2024/0205/PAC for the Rothes III Wind Farm and includes a location plan. The plan shows the wind farm's boundaries, turbine locations, tracks, borrow pit search area, substation, and construction compound, along with other details like nearby hills and burns (small streams).

This document contains information related to Agenda Item 5, Appendix 2, regarding the Rothes III Wind Farm project, application number 2024/0205/PAC, within the Cairngorms National Park Authority planning committee. Specifically, it shows a map outlining the proposed location of the wind turbines and other associated infrastructure like crane pads, tracks, and substations.

This document contains information regarding Agenda Item 5, Appendix 3, project number 2024/0205/PAC, for the Rothes III Wind Farm, dated 27 September 2024. It includes a zone of theoretical visibility (ZTV) comparison for the blade tip, indicating locations of consented development turbines, viewpoint locations, and areas where the turbines would be visible. It also shows additional areas of visibility of the revised tip height proposal.

This document contains the minutes from the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee meeting held on 27 September 2024. The meeting included a welcome to David Berry, the new Head of Planning and Chief Planning Officer, and a thank you to Xander McDade for his service. The minutes from the previous meeting on 9 August 2024 were approved, and the committee discussed a pre-application consultation for the Rothes III Wind Farm, ultimately agreeing to the Officer's recommendation of no objection. The public part of the meeting closed at 11.13am, and the next meeting is scheduled for 8 November 2024.