DRAFT COM­MIT­TEE MINUTES

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHORITY

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE PLAN­NING COMMITTEE

held via Video Conference

on 25 March 2022 at 9.30am

Mem­bers Present:

Dr Gaen­er Rodger (Con­vener) John Latham

Elean­or Mack­in­tosh (Deputy Con­vener) Douglas McAdam

Peter Argyle Xan­der McDade

Geva Black­ett Wil­lie McKenna

Car­o­lyn Cad­dick Ian McLaren

Deirdre Fal­con­er Dr Fiona McLean

Pippa Had­ley Derek Ross

Janet Hunter Judith Webb

John Kirk

In Attend­ance:

Gav­in Miles, Head of Stra­tegic Planning

Mur­ray Fer­guson, Dir­ect­or of Plan­ning & Place

Emma Bryce, Plan­ning Man­ager, Devel­op­ment Management

Alan Atkins, Plan­ning Officer, Devel­op­ment Management

Katie Crerar, Plan­ning Officer, Devel­op­ment Planning

Peter Fer­guson, Harp­er McLeod LLP

Apo­lo­gies: Anne Rae Macdonald

Wil­li­am Munro

Agenda Items I & 2: Wel­come & Apologies

1. The Con­vener wel­comed all present. Apo­lo­gies were noted.

DRAFT COM­MIT­TEE MINUTES

Agenda Item 3: Minutes & Mat­ters Arising from the Pre­vi­ous Meeting

1. The minutes of the pre­vi­ous meet­ing, 25 Feb­ru­ary 2022, held via video con­fer­en­cing were approved sub­ject to the fol­low­ing amendments:

   • At Para. 31. Cor­rect the num­bers to: 7 for the motion and 10 for the amendment.
   • At Para. 37. Change the para­graph to read ​“The Com­mit­tee were invited to ask for any points of clar­ity on the con­tri­bu­tion of Tessa Jones of Badenoch & Strath­spey Con­ser­va­tion Group (object­or) no points were raised. The Con­vener thanked Tessa Jones for her contribution.”

Agenda Item 4: Declar­a­tion of Interest by Mem­bers on Items Appear­ing on the Agenda

1. Douglas McAdam declared a fin­an­cial Interest in Item 5. Reas­on: Clova Estate includ­ing the Clova Hotel are mem­bers of the deer man­age­ment group that he is employed to chairs so he would with­draw from the discussion.

2. Peter Argyle, Geva Black­ett, John Lath­am declared a (non-fin­an­cial) Interest in Item 6. Reas­on: Aber­deen­shire Coun­cil has respon­ded at officer level, to the item and for reas­ons of trans­par­ency these board mem­bers, as mem­bers of Aber­deen­shire Coun­cil, declared an interest but would take part.

3. Xan­der McDade declared a (non- fin­an­cial) interest in Item 6. Reas­on: Perth and Kinross Coun­cil has respon­ded at officer level, to the item and for reas­ons of trans­par­ency, as a mem­ber of Perth and Kinross Coun­cil, he declared an interest but would take part.

Agenda Item 5: Detailed Plan­ning Per­mis­sion 2021/0168/DET Erec­tion of 8 No. Hol­i­day Lodges and Plant/​Storage Build­ing, Form­a­tion of Vehicu­lar Access, Park­ing and Turn­ing Areas, Install­a­tion of Sewage Treat­ment Plant and Sur­face Water Soakaways At Land North West of Clova Hotel, Glen Clova Recom­mend­a­tion: REFUSE

1. Gav­in Miles, Head of Stra­tegic Plan­ning, presen­ted the paper to the Committee.

2. The Com­mit­tee were invited to ask points of clar­ity, the fol­low­ing point was raised:

DRAFT COM­MIT­TEE MINUTES

1. A mem­ber asked if the applic­ant con­sidered few­er chalets. Head of Stra­tegic Plan­ning con­firmed the applic­ant had been asked to con­sider altern­at­ives but that the applic­ant con­sidered it would affect the viab­il­ity of the development.

2. Emelda McLean (Plan­ning Agent) was invited by the Con­vener to address the Com­mit­tee. (Alistair Todd, Agent for the Estate and Peter Gun­ning, Archi­tect were also avail­able to answer questions).

The Com­mit­tee were invited to ask points of clar­ity to the speak­er, the fol­low­ing points were raised:

a) The design of the units was discussed. Head of Strategic Planning explained it was not the design of individual units which was the concern of the planning team but the way they are set across the hillside. The agent replied that they would be prepared to do more planting.
b) A query was raised as to the possibility of wood cladding rather than cement fibre. Peter Gunning (Architect) explained cement fibre was chosen as it was zero maintenance across its life and used in a new build nearby. The applicant preferred cement fibre cladding.
c) Discussion of trees in the area. Proposed new trees are small (gean and rowan) and would take some years to make any significant difference in landscape. The Planning Agent explained the applicant would be prepared to discuss any preferred species and additional planting as a planning condition. The Architect had taken tree species advice from forestry consultants. The existing trees are larger broad leaf species.
d) The reason for long continuous buildings was discussed and the concern about the impact of the reflection of sun on window glass particularly in winter. The Architect explained the linear form was chosen as it reflects the topography of the site in west against the wooded landscape of the east. The Architect felt the impact of glass was reasonable with large eaves overhangs with well covered balconies. The Applicant could look at low reflecting glass.

1. The Con­vener thanked the Emelda Mclean and mem­bers of the applic­a­tion team for their report.

2. The Com­mit­tee were invited to dis­cuss the report, the fol­low­ing points were raised: a) Con­cerns about use of con­crete and urb­an type design in a Nation­al Park were dis­cussed. b) The design of sit­ing in lin­ear form was a con­cern and felt not appro­pri­ate even with par­tial mask­ing by trees in the long term. c) There was sup­port from the com­mit­tee for fur­ther devel­op­ment asso­ci­ated with the Hotel in principle.

DRAFT COM­MIT­TEE MINUTES

1. d) There was a sug­ges­tion of screen­ing with mature trees. It was cla­ri­fied that there was very little chance of trans­planted large trees sur­viv­ing in this loc­a­tion. e) It was dis­cussed that the form and design of the pro­posed devel­op­ment will res­ult in sig­ni­fic­ant adverse effect on the land­scape char­ac­ter, visu­al amen­ity and spe­cial land­scape qual­it­ies of the Nation­al Park.

The Com­mit­tee refused the applic­a­tion as per the Officer’s recommendation.

1. The Con­vener sug­ges­ted that the applic­ant might like to come back in the future as the Com­mit­tee would wel­come a pro­pos­al that provided eco­nom­ic bene­fit to the area with reduced impacts.

2. Action Points arising: None

Agenda Item 6: Adop­tion of Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan Non-Stat­utory Guidance

1. Katie Crerar, Plan­ning Officer, Devel­op­ment Plan­ning presen­ted the paper to the Committee.

2. The Com­mit­tee were invited to ask points of clar­ity and invited to dis­cuss the report, the fol­low­ing points were raised: a) Design and Place­mak­ing Non – Stat­utory Guidance:

   i. The Committee discussed the clear & excellent paper which used illustrations and examples for clarification.
   ii. Head of Strategic Planning noted that Nasim Mehrabi the Graduate Planner did most of work including the illustrations.
   

3. Thanks to Nas­im Mehr­abi was form­ally recor­ded by the com­mit­tee in the minutes.

4. The Com­mit­tee dis­cussed the Developer Oblig­a­tions Sup­ple­ment­ary Guid­ance, the fol­low­ing com­ment was made: a) Neces­sary well-pre­pared piece of guid­ance tak­ing on com­ments dur­ing the consultation.

DRAFT COM­MIT­TEE MINUTES

1. The Com­mit­tee: a) Approved the modi­fic­a­tions to and adopt the Design and Place­mak­ing non stat­utory plan­ning guid­ance. b) Approved the modi­fic­a­tions to the Developer Oblig­a­tions Sup­ple­ment­ary Guid­ance for the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan 2021 and its sub­mis­sion to Scot­tish Ministers

2. Action Points arising: None

Agenda Item 7: AOB

1. There were no items presented.

Agenda Item 8: Date of Next Meeting

1. The date of the next meet­ing is Fri­day 22^nd April 2022 at 10am via video/​telephone con­fer­ence. There would be a Poten­tial Site vis­it at Aviemore on Thursday 21^st April 2022 late after­noon, details to be con­firmed near­er the time.

2. The pub­lic busi­ness of the meet­ing con­cluded at 10:40 hours.

Out­stand­ing actions from pre­vi­ous committees

Date	Action
23/04/2021	There will be a devel­op­ment ses­sion for the Com­mit­tee in 2022 about land­scape effects inside and out­side the Nation­al Park (mainly related to windfarms)