Item6Appendix3CommunityCouncilComments202100355DET

CAIRNGORMS NATION­AL PARK AUTHOR­ITY Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Agenda Item 6 Appendix 3 25/06/2021

AGENDA ITEM 6

APPENDIX 3

2021/0035/DET

COM­MUNITY COUN­CIL COMMENTS

Mid Deeside Com­munity Coun­cil c/​o Vic­tory Hall Bal­later Road Aboyne AB34 5HY

Plan­ning Sup­port Team Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity 14 The Square Grant­own-on-Spey Moray PH26 3HG 1 March 2021

Ref: 2021/0035/DET Case Officer: Stephanie Wade By email to

Dear Ms Wade,

Re:	Mid Deeside CC Con­sulta­tion Request
Applic­a­tion Number:	2021/0035/DET
Devel­op­ment Proposed:	Change of Use of Agri­cul­tur­al Land to Form Cara­van Park Erec­tion of Stor­age Shed and Install­a­tion of Deck­ing and Hot Tubs and Form­a­tion of Access
Loc­a­tion:	Land Adja­cent To, Old Hall, Din­net Bridge Dinnet

We write fur­ther to your let­ter of 8 Feb­ru­ary 2021 ask­ing wheth­er Mid Deeside Com­munity Coun­cil (MDCC) would like to respond to the above proposal.

MDCC has the fol­low­ing com­ments on behalf of the com­munity that we serve. Whilst we are broadly sup­port­ive of the pro­pos­al, we do have some con­cerns which we believe should be addressed if the devel­op­ment is to proceed.

In sup­port of the applic­a­tion, the devel­op­ment will provide a ser­vice to the area which is cur­rently lack­ing, namely pitches for tour­ing cara­vans. This devel­op­ment may there­fore attract addi­tion­al tour­ism which could be advant­age­ous for loc­al busi­nesses. It may also be advant­age­ous for loc­al busi­nesses sup­ply­ing goods and ser­vices to the development.

How­ever, the fol­low­ing poten­tial impacts need to be taken into consideration:

1. The pro­pos­al is for eight tour­ing cara­vans only. How­ever, in the absence of express plan­ning con­di­tions con­trolling use of the site, the devel­op­ment could incre­ment­ally change over time, par­tic­u­larly if own­er­ship or man­age­ment of the site were to change, for example increas­ing the num­ber of cara­vans, the type of cara­vans, or expand­ing to include camp­ing, glamp­ing, lodges, yurts, etc. This could cause com­pet­i­tion with exist­ing loc­al busi­nesses provid­ing lodges, etc, and exacer­bate poten­tial oth­er impacts high­lighted below.

2. There is lim­ited screen­ing of the site from the South Deeside Road. The cara­vans using the site and the asso­ci­ated infra­struc­ture will be vis­ible from the road, as may parked cars, awn­ings and equip­ment brought by the cara­van users. Whilst we recog­nise that the Cairngorms Nation­al Park is a diverse, liv­ing, work­ing land­scape, this may have a neg­at­ive visu­al impact on the area. There is also poten­tial for users of the site to cause a nuis­ance, eg by play­ing loud music.

3. Owing to the loc­a­tion of the site, we would expect that ped­es­tri­ans will walk from the site over Din­net Bridge to the Loch Kinord res­taur­ant and bar and to the Holly Tree Inn. We are con­cerned for the safety of ped­es­tri­ans doing this, par­tic­u­larly at night, giv­en the absence of a foot­path serving most of the route from the site to the centre of Din­net. In par­tic­u­lar, we are aware that the South Deeside Road is used by lor­ries to and from the loc­al sawmill.

We recog­nise that it may be pos­sible to lim­it some of the poten­tial impacts high­lighted above through plan­ning con­di­tions or oblig­a­tions which, for example, lim­it the scope of the devel­op­ment (eg num­ber and type of cara­vans), require screen­ing and require site rules for users which must be enforced by the site owners.

Please let us know if you have any ques­tions or would like fur­ther clarification.

Kindly acknow­ledge safe receipt.

Yours sin­cerely,

Fiona Saw­yer Plan­ning Lead, MDCC For and on behalf of Mid Deeside Com­munity Council