Planning Committee - December 2020

This document contains the agenda for the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee meeting on 11 December 2020. The meeting will be held virtually at 10am. Agenda items include a welcome, apologies, minutes from the previous meeting on 13 November 2020, declarations of interest, a detailed planning permission regarding the construction of a new single carriageway road and bridge, a decision on the Berryburn Windfarm Extension Consultation, an information item on the Planning Service Performance Update, any other business, and the date of the next meeting and quorum requirement.

This document contains the draft minutes from the Cairngorms National Park Authority Planning Committee meeting held on 13 November 2020. During the meeting, members welcomed attendees and addressed apologies, followed by a review of the minutes and matters arising from the previous meeting on 25 September 2020. The committee discussed declarations of interest, detailed planning permissions for locations such as Ballater Old School, and an application concerning Cairngorm Mountain. Discussions covered topics like chimney maintenance, wall harling, temporary applications, and potential environmental impacts. The committee also updated applications approved, explored developer contributions, examined the Local Development Plan (LDP) Monitoring Report 2020, and reviewed the Scottish Government Consultation regarding Permitted Development Rights. Finally, the committee agreed to add a reference to Scottish Forestry policy and scheduled the next meeting for 11 December 2020.

This document contains a planning application for the Cairngorms National Park Authority. The application proposes the construction of a new single carriageway road and a bridge at A939 Deeside - Tomintoul Road Gairnshiel Ballater AB35 5UQ. The proposal is recommended for approval subject to certain conditions. The document details the site description, relevant planning policies, consultations, and environmental and historical impact considerations, concluding that the development aligns with park policies with appropriate mitigation measures.

This document contains plans for a new single carriageway road and bridge at Gairnshiel, agenda item 5 appendix 1, planning application 2020/0108/DET. It includes location plans, layout plans, general arrangement plans, elevation plans, deck level plans, parapet detail plans, plan and profile of the A939 Northern Mainline and traffic sign plans. It also includes compensatory planting information including areas for planting and species that will be used.

This document contains a Natura Appraisal Form for the River Dee Special Area of Conservation (SAC). It reviews a proposal to construct a new single carriageway road and bridge at Gairnshiel on the A939 Deeside-Tomintoul road. The qualifying interests of the River Dee SAC are freshwater pearl mussels, otters, and Atlantic salmon. The appraisal assesses the potential impacts of the proposed construction on these species and their habitats, including distribution, habitat extent, and supporting processes. The proposal could have a significant effect on otters, freshwater pearl mussels and Atlantic salmon. The document concludes that the project could adversely affect the site's integrity if mitigation measures are not implemented. It recommends that the project proponent submits a detailed construction method statement that addresses the following effects: disturbance to salmon and otters; sediment run-off leading to suffocation of fish and mussels and smothering of the river bed; fuel run-off leading to poisoning of fish, mussels and otter and accidental trapping and injury to otter. It also mentions the need for freshwater ecology surveys and the mapping of habitats for salmon and freshwater pearl mussels.

This document contains community council comments for planning application 2020/0108/DET. The application proposes constructing a new single carriageway road, forming access, and erecting a bridge at A939 Deeside - Tomintoul Road Gairnshiel Ballater AB35 5UQ. Braemar Community Council supports the application, referencing Cairngorms National Park Authority Local Development Plan Policy 2, which supports economic growth, noting that the people of Braemar and visitors to the village are regular users of the bridge.

This document contains a report informing the Cairngorms National Park Authority's (Park Authority) decision and consultation response regarding a proposed Berry Burn wind farm extension, located southwest of the Cairngorms National Park. The Scottish Government Energy Consents and Deployment Unit (ECDU) is considering the application because the output is more than 50 MW. The Park Authority's assessment focuses on the wind farm's impact on the landscape and Special Landscape Qualities (SLQs) of the National Park, with NatureScot providing advice on the effects outside the Park. Although the wind farm is located outside the National Park, the Park Authority needs to consider Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) and the National Park Partnership Plan (NPPP) and concluded that the wind farm extension would not significantly affect the landscape character or SLQs, and therefore, they have no objection to the proposed wind farm development. However, the Park Authority supports mitigation measures suggested by NatureScot, such as amending the design to reflect the original design logic of the Berry Burn wind farm, reducing turbine heights, and re-siting turbines westwards adjacent to the existing Berry Burn wind farm.

This document contains an update on the Cairngorms National Park Authority's (CNPA) planning service performance up to the end of Quarter 2 of 2019/20. The report highlights that the use of processing agreements is generally effective for both applicants and CNPA staff, although determination times have slowed. It also notes that the CNPA has sent unresolved representations on the proposed Local Development Plan (LDP) to the Scottish Government Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) for examination. The CNPA is increasing its monitoring of hill tracks and raising policy awareness among estates and land managers. The planning committee approved five improvement priorities for the planning service during 2019/20 and work is underway on all of these priorities. The next planning service monitoring report is expected in June 2020.