Item6CommitteeReport20230445DET

Cairngorms Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh 09 August 2024 Page 1 of 10

Com­mit­tee report Devel­op­ment pro­posed: Repair and upgrade of exist­ing hill track Ref­er­ence: 2023/0445/DET Applic­ant: Bal­avil Estate Date called-in: 11 Decem­ber 2023 Recom­mend­a­tion: Approve sub­ject to con­di­tions Case officer: Colin Bry­ans, Seni­or Plan­ning Officer Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh CNPA Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Applic­a­tion Site 0 45 90 Meters S 390m Burn N 180 Butts Lua­chair Mhòr 390m Lua­chair Mhòr Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee 09 August 2024 Page 2 of 10

Crown copy­right and data­base rights 2024. Ord­nance rights 2024. Ord­nance Sur­vey AC0000821810. The rep­res­ent­a­tion of fea­tures or bound­ar­ies in which Cairngorms Nation­al Park or oth­ers have an interest does not neces­sar­ily imply their true pos­i­tions. For fur­ther inform­a­tion please con­tact the appro­pri­ate author­ity. This map has been pro­duced to aid in the stat­utory pro­cess of deal­ing with plan­ning applic­a­tions. The map is to help identi­fy the site and its sur­round­ings and to aid Plan­ning Officers, Com­mit­tee Mem­bers and the Pub­lic in the determ­in­a­tion of the pro­pos­al. Maps shown in the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Report can only be used for the pur­poses of the Plan­ning Com­mit­tee. Any oth­er use risks infringing Crown Copy­right and may lead to pro­sec­u­tion or civil pro­ceed­ings. Maps pro­duced with­in this Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Report can only be repro­duced with the express per­mis­sion of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity and oth­er Copy­right hold­ers. This per­mis­sion must be gran­ted in advance. Cairngorms Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh 09 August 2024 Page 3 of 10

Site descrip­tion, pro­pos­al and his­tory Site description

1. Bal­avil Estate is approx­im­ately 3km north east of Kin­gussie. The estate is a long, thin estate stretch­ing from the A9, 13km north­w­est from there into the Mon­adh­liath Moun­tains and con­sists of mixed land uses includ­ing forestry, agri­cul­ture and sport­ing. The estate is cur­rently under­tak­ing a wood­land res­tor­a­tion and regen­er­at­ive land­scape man­age­ment programme.
2. The applic­a­tion site is largely a pre-exist­ing rough estate 4×4 access track of approx­im­ately 800m in length, run­ning north west from the main spin­al estate road and loc­ated north of Craeg Bhuidhe wood­land and north west of Lua­chair Mhor. The total site area is approx­im­ately 2400sq m. Proposal
3. The draw­ings and doc­u­ments asso­ci­ated with this applic­a­tion are lis­ted below and are avail­able on the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity web­site unless noted oth­er­wise: http://​www​.eplan​ningcnpa​.co​.uk/​o​n​line- applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=S2H06USI0CP00

Title Draw­ing Date on plan Date received num­ber Plan – Site loc­a­tion plan n/​a 01/11/2023 08/12/2023 Plan – Site plan n/​a 01/11/2023 08/12/2023 Plan – Sec­tion plan n/​a n/​a 08/12/2023 Where no spe­cif­ic day of month has been provided on the plan, the sys­tem defaults to the first of the month.

1. The pro­posed devel­op­ment con­sists of the upgrade and widen­ing of a pre-exist­ing rough estate 4×4 access track (ret­ro­spect­ive), to a width of 2.5/3m and to include a cent­ral green strip. The upgraded track will facil­it­ate the wood­land res­tor­a­tion and Cairngorms Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh 09 August 2024 Page 4 of 10

regen­er­at­ive land­scape man­age­ment pro­gramme cur­rently under­way across the estate. History

1. Bal­avil Estate sub­mit­ted a plan­ning applic­a­tion for a new track to the north­ern part of the estate. This was approved in Janu­ary 2019, under ref­er­ence 2018/0400/DET.
2. Bal­avil Estate sub­mit­ted a plan­ning applic­a­tion for a new track (ret­ro­spect­ive). This was approved in Decem­ber 2019, under ref­er­ence 2019/0347/DET.
3. Balivil Estate sub­mit­ted a plan­ning applic­a­tion for the repair and upgrade of exist­ing estate track (ret­ro­spect­ive). This applic­a­tion is cur­rently under con­sid­er­a­tion, under ref­er­ence 2023/0455/DET.
4. Balivil sub­mit­ted a plan­ning applic­a­tion for the form­a­tion of a bor­row pit (ret­ro­spect­ive). This applic­a­tion is cur­rently under con­sid­er­a­tion, under ref­er­ence 2022/0290/DET. Hab­it­at reg­u­la­tions appraisal
5. The pro­pos­als are not con­sidered to impact upon any European sites. As such no Hab­it­at Reg­u­la­tions Apprais­al is required. Devel­op­ment plan con­text Policies Nation­al Plan­ning Frame­work 4 (NPF4) Scot­land 2045 Nation­al policy Guid­ance that is rel­ev­ant to this applic­a­tion is marked with a cross (x). Policy 1 Tack­ling the cli­mate and nature crises Policy 2 Cli­mate mit­ig­a­tion and adapt­a­tion Policy 3 Biod­iversity Policy 4 Nat­ur­al places X X X X Cairngorms Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh 09 August 2024 Page 5 of 10

Policy 5 Policy 6 Policy 7 Policy 8 Policy 9 Policy 11 Policy 12 Policy 13 Policy 14 Policy 15 Policy 16 Policy 17 Rur­al homes Policy 18 Policy 19 Soils Forestry, wood­land and trees His­tor­ic assets and places Green belts Brown­field, vacant and derel­ict land, and empty build­ings Energy Zero waste Sus­tain­able trans­port Design, qual­ity and place Loc­al liv­ing and 20 minute neigh­bour­hoods Qual­ity homes Infra­struc­ture first Heat­ing and cool­ing Policy 20 Blue and green infra­struc­ture Policy 21 Play, recre­ation and sport Policy 22 Flood risk and water man­age­ment Policy 23 Health and safety Policy 24 Digit­al infra­struc­ture Policy 25 Com­munity wealth build­ing Policy 26 Busi­ness and industry Policy 27 City, town, loc­al and com­mer­cial centres Policy 28 Retail Policy 29 Rur­al devel­op­ment Policy 30 Tour­ism Policy 31 Cul­ture and cre­ativ­ity Policy 32 Aquacul­ture Policy 33 Min­er­als X X Cairngorms Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh 09 August 2024 Page 6 of 10

Loc­al plan policy Policy 1 Policy 2 Policy 3 Policy 4 Policy 5 Policy 6 Policy 7 Policy 8 Policy 9 Policy 10 Policy 11 Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan (2021) Guid­ance that is rel­ev­ant to this applic­a­tion is marked with a cross (x). New hous­ing devel­op­ment Sup­port­ing eco­nom­ic growth Design and place­mak­ing Nat­ur­al her­it­age Land­scape The sit­ing and design of digit­al com­mu­nic­a­tions equip­ment Renew­able energy Open space, sport and recre­ation Cul­tur­al her­it­age Resources Developer oblig­a­tions X X X

1. All new devel­op­ment pro­pos­als require to be assessed in rela­tion to policies con­tained in the adop­ted Devel­op­ment Plan which com­prises Nation­al Plan­ning Frame­work 4 (NPF4) and the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan 2021 (LDP). The full word­ing of policies can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-planning-framework‑4/documents/ and at: https://​cairngorms​.co​.uk/​w​p​-​c​o​n​t​e​n​t​/​u​p​l​o​a​d​s​/​2​0​2​1​/​0​3​/​C​N​P​A​-​L​D​P​-​2​0​2​1​-​w​e​b.pdf Plan­ning guidance
2. Sup­ple­ment­ary guid­ance also forms part of the Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan and provides more details about how to com­ply with the policies. Guid­ance that is rel­ev­ant to this applic­a­tion is marked with a cross (x). Policy 1 Policy 2 Policy 3 Policy 4 Hous­ing sup­ple­ment­ary guid­ance Sup­port­ing eco­nom­ic growth non-stat­utory guid­ance Design and place­mak­ing non-stat­utory guid­ance Nat­ur­al her­it­age non-stat­utory guid­ance X X Cairngorms Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Policy 5 Policy 7 Policy 8 Policy 9 Land­scape non-stat­utory guid­ance Renew­able energy non-stat­utory guid­ance Open space, sport and recre­ation non-stat­utory guid­ance Policy 11 Cul­tur­al her­it­age non-stat­utory guid­ance Resources non-stat­utory guid­ance Developer oblig­a­tions sup­ple­ment­ary guid­ance Policy 10 09 August 2024 Page 7 of 10 X Consultations
3. Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Land­scape Adviser raised no objec­tions to the pro­pos­al, not­ing that is not highly prom­in­ent with­in the wider area as it crosses a gently slop­ing land­form shelf, so loc­al vis­ib­il­ity is affected by fore­ground screen­ing and visu­al fore­short­en­ing and that the track will mainly be viewed by estate work­ers and those under­tak­ing recre­ation along the access track between Bal­avil and Meall a’ Chò­caire and with­in the con­text a new wood­land plant­ing scheme and asso­ci­ated peri­met­er deer fencing.
4. Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Eco­logy Officer raised no objec­tions to the pro­pos­al but high­lighted that the sub­mis­sion this ret­ro­spect­ive applic­a­tion makes it dif­fi­cult to determ­ine the sig­ni­fic­ance of impacts on pro­tec­ted spe­cies and birds. The sig­ni­fic­ance of effects on hab­it­ats is con­sidered slight and fol­low­ing the sub­mis­sion of the peat sur­vey the sig­ni­fic­ance of effects on peat­land is also con­sidered slight.
5. Kin­craig Com­munity Coun­cil offered no con­sulta­tion response. Representations
6. No rep­res­ent­a­tions have been received. Apprais­al Principle
7. Not­with­stand­ing the fact that the works were com­menced without the requis­ite grant of plan­ning per­mis­sion, the pro­pos­al is to upgrade a sec­tion of pre-exist­ing Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee 09 August 2024 Page 8 of 10

track fol­lowed by a route fre­quently used by estate vehicles to access remoter parts of the estate. All the works will be seen with­in the con­text of a large nat­ive wood­land plant­ing scheme and, sub­ject to detailed con­sid­er­a­tion of design and pro­posed mit­ig­a­tion meas­ures, the prin­ciple of a track is con­sidered accept­able. Design

1. NPF4 Policy 14: Design, qual­ity and place, seeks to sup­port devel­op­ment pro­pos­als that improve the qual­ity of an area regard­less of scale and that are con­sist­ent with the six qual­it­ies of suc­cess­ful places, that is: a) Healthy b) Pleas­ant c) Con­nec­ted d) Dis­tinct­ive e) Sus­tain­able f) Adaptable
2. LDP Policy 3: Design and place­mak­ing seeks to ensure that devel­op­ment meets the six qual­it­ies of suc­cess­ful places.
3. The pro­posed track upgrades and widen­ing are of a func­tion­al design and the mater­i­als used reflect this, being sourced at an estate bor­row pit. The inclu­sion of a cent­ral green strip to the new track pro­file helps fur­ther ensures that the pro­pos­al will not appear incon­gru­ous with­in its setting.
4. The design of the pro­pos­al is of a scale and nature that is appro­pri­ate to its set­ting and the mater­i­als pro­posed appro­pri­ate and loc­ally sourced. This, in com­bin­a­tion with the fact that it will facil­it­ate a regen­er­at­ive nat­ive wood­land plant­ing pro­ject, ensures that in terms of design the pro­pos­al com­plies with the above policies. Environment
5. NPF4 Policy 3: Biod­iversity seeks to ensure that devel­op­ment pro­pos­als pro­tect biod­iversity, reverse biod­iversity loss, deliv­er pos­it­ive effects from devel­op­ment and strengthen nature net­works. Devel­op­ment pro­pos­als must include appro­pri­ate Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee 09 August 2024 Page 9 of 10

meas­ures to con­serve, restore and enhance biod­iversity, in accord­ance with nation­al and loc­al guidance.

1. NPF4 Policy 4: Nat­ur­al places seeks to ensure that devel­op­ment pro­pos­als pro­tect, restore and enhance nat­ur­al assets mak­ing best use of nature-based solu­tions. Devel­op­ment that has sig­ni­fic­ant adverse impacts on des­ig­nated sites, after mit­ig­a­tion, will not be supported.
2. LDP Policy 4: Nat­ur­al her­it­age seeks to ensure that there are no adverse effects on European Pro­tec­ted Spe­cies and oth­er biod­iversity interests.
3. The Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Eco­logy Officer raised no objec­tions to the pro­pos­al, with the effects of the pro­pos­al con­sidered slight. The envir­on­ment­al impacts of the pro­pos­al are of a scale and nature that is con­sidered accept­able and in com­pli­ance with the above devel­op­ment plan policies.
4. The pro­pos­al does not include any spe­cif­ic meas­ures con­cern­ing biod­iversity net gain. How­ever, giv­en that the pro­posed devel­op­ment con­sti­tutes part of a wider pro­ject to plant and regen­er­ate nat­ive wood­land, it is evid­ent that the pro­ject will facil­it­ate the deliv­ery of wider biod­iversity enhance­ments. Landscape
5. LDP Policy 5: pre­sumes against devel­op­ment which does not con­serve and enhance the land­scape char­ac­ter and spe­cial qual­it­ies of the Nation­al Park and in par­tic­u­lar the set­ting of the pro­posed development.

6. The pro­posed upgraded track will inev­it­ably have a more sig­ni­fic­ant visu­al impact than the pre­vi­ously driv­en route. How­ever, giv­en that the track is asso­ci­ate with and will be seen in the con­text of an enclosed wood­land plant­ing scheme, and is not prom­in­ent in the land­scape the visu­al impacts it will have will reduce over time. In addi­tion, the green cent­ral strip installed fur­ther softens the visu­al appear­ance of the track and reduces its impact. Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Ugh­dar­ras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhon­aidh Ruaidh Item 6, Plan­ning Com­mit­tee 09 August 2024 Page 10 of 10

7. The pro­pos­al is accept­able in terms of its impacts on land­scape and accords with LDP Policy 5. Conclusion

8. The pro­posed devel­op­ment is in con­sidered to com­ply with the policies of Nation­al Plan­ning Frame­work 4 and the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Loc­al Devel­op­ment Plan 2021 and approv­al is recom­men­ded. Recom­mend­a­tion That mem­bers of the com­mit­tee sup­port a recom­mend­a­tion to approve the pro­posed repair and upgrade of an exist­ing estate track (ret­ro­spect­ive). Informatives
9. The per­son under­tak­ing the devel­op­ment is required to give the Plan­ning Author­ity pri­or writ­ten noti­fic­a­tion of the date which it is inten­ded to com­mence the devel­op­ment. Attached to this decision notice is a Notice of Ini­ti­ation of Devel­op­ment for com­ple­tion and sub­mis­sion. Sub­mis­sion of this inform­a­tion assists the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Mon­it­or­ing and Enforce­ment Officer in mon­it­or­ing act­ive work with­in the area to ensure com­pli­ance with the approved details and to identi­fy and cor­rect any poten­tial prob­lems, as they arise, rather than later when it may be more dif­fi­cult and more costly to rec­ti­fy. Fail­ure to give notice would con­sti­tute a breach of plan­ning con­trol which may res­ult in enforce­ment action being taken.
10. Fol­low­ing com­ple­tion of the devel­op­ment, a noti­fic­a­tion of com­ple­tion shall, as soon as prac­tic­able, be giv­en to the Plan­ning Author­ity. Attached to this decision notice is a Notice of Com­ple­tion of Devel­op­ment for com­ple­tion and sub­mis­sion. Sub­mis­sion of this form will assist the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity Mon­it­or­ing and Enforce­ment Officer in mak­ing a final inspec­tion and check­ing com­pli­ance with the approved draw­ings and con­di­tions. If the devel­op­ment hereby approved is to be car­ried out in phases, then a notice of com­ple­tion should be sub­mit­ted at the com­ple­tion of each phase.