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CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 


MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMITTEE 
held at The Retreat, Glen Esk, 
on Friday, 12 June 2009 at 10.30am 


PRESENT 

Eric Baird		Willie McKenna 
Stuart Black 	Eleanor Mackintosh 
Geva Blackett 	Ian Mackintosh 
Duncan Bryden 	Anne MacLean 
Lucy Grant 	Alastair MacLennan 
David Green 	Fiona Murdoch 
Drew Hendry 	Andrew Rafferty 
Marcus Humphrey 	Richard Stroud 
Bob Kinnaird 	Susan Walker 
Mary McCafferty 

IN ATTENDANCE: 

Andrew Tait 	Bruce Luffman 
Derek Manson 	Julie Millman 

APOLOGIES: 

Peter Argyle 	Jaci Douglas 
Gregor Rimell 	Dave Fallows 



AGENDA ITEMS 1 & 2: 
WELCOME AND APOLOGIES 

1. The Convenor welcomed all present and introduced Derek Manson, Planning Officer. 
He informed the Committee that Robert Grant was off work for a little longer and for 
the Committee’s good wishes for a good recovery to be passed on to Robert. 

2. Apologies were received from the above Members. 


AGENDA ITEM 3: 
MINUTES & MATTERS ARISING FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING 

3. The minutes of the previous meeting, 29 May 2009, held at Lecht Ski Centre were 
approved subject to amendments to include the word “strategically” in Para 41, to reword 
Item 65n to say “The potential for a sympathetic restoration of the building 
including an extension in a sympathetic style and to Item 66 “The Reporters’ original 


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reasons for refusal was an important consideration for resisting the proposal and the 
independent structural survey had shown the potential for some restoration rather than 
the need for a complete rebuild. Under Item 86, replace ‘call in’ with the words ‘in 
addition to’. 

4. There were no matters arising. 


AGENDA ITEM 4: 
DECLARATION OF INTEREST BY MEMBERS ON ANY ITEMS APPEARING 
ON THE AGENDA 

5. Fiona Murdoch declared an interest in Planning Application No. 09/178/CP. 

6. Andrew Rafferty declared an indirect interest in Planning Application No. 09/161/CP. 

7. Marcus Humphrey and Richard Stroud as Aberdeenshire Councillors declared an 
indirect interest in Planning Application No. 09/175/CP. 


AGENDA ITEM 5: 
PLANNING APPLICATION CALL-IN DECISIONS 
(Oral Presentation, by Andrew Tait, Planning Officer) 

8. 09/157/CP -No Call-in 
9. 09/158/CP -No Call-in 
10. 09/159/CP -No Call-in 
11. 09/160/CP -No Call-in 
12. 09/161/CP -No Call-in 
13. 09/162/CP -No Call-in 

14. 09/163/CP -The decision was to call-in the application for the following reason : 

• The proposal involves the erection of a 15 metre high telecoms 
mast in an area adjacent to a range of environmental designations. 
The proposal raises a range of issues with regard to natural 
heritage, landscape in particular and also in relation to the social 
and economic development of the area. Consequently, the 
proposal raises issues of general significance for the collective aims 
of the Cairngorms National Park. 

15. 09/164/CP -No Call-in 
16. 09/165/CP -No Call-in 
17. 09/166/CP -No Call-in 
18. 09/167/CP -No Call-in 
19. 09/168/CP -No Call-in 
20. 09/169/CP -No Call-in 
21. 09/170/CP -No Call-in 
22. 09/171/CP -No Call-in 
23. 09/172/CP -No Call-in 
24. 09/173/CP -No Call-in 

25. 09/174/CP -The decision was to call-in the application for the following reason : 

• The proposal involves the renovation/replacement of an existing 
bridge of distinctive design that crosses the River Feshie. The age 


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and character of the bridge are such that it is of importance to the 
cultural heritage of the Park. There are a high number of 
environmental designations covering the area and the bridge 
facilitates a number of walking routes in the area. Consequently, 
the proposal raises issues of general significance for the collective 
aims of the Cairngorms National Park. 

26. 09/175/CP No Call-in 
27. 09/176/CP No Call-in 
28. 09/177/CP No Call-in 

Fiona Murdoch declared an interest and left the room 

29. 09/178/CP No Call-in 

Fiona Murdoch returned 

30. 09/179/CP No Call-in 


COMMENTING ON APPLICATIONS NOT CALLED-IN BY THE COMMITTEE 

31. The Members wished to make comments to the Local Authorities on the following 
Planning Application No’s 09/158/CP, 09/161/CP, 09/170/CP, 09/176/CP & 09/178/CP. 
The planning officers noted these comments and were delegated with the responsibility 
of whether or not to submit the comments to the Local Authorities. 


AGENDA ITEM 6: 
REPORT ON CNPA PLANNING ENFORCEMENT CHARTER 
(PAPER 1) 

32. Bruce Luffman (Monitoring Enforcement Officer) presented a paper recommending that 
members of the Planning Committee accept the Planning Enforcement Charter as set 
out in Appendix 1 of this report and note the review of conditions in Decision Notices 
and a future discussion on delegation of enforcement procedures. 

33. Amendments to the previous paper and the various changes to the Appendix were 
outlined to members. 

34. The Convenor invited members to ask any questions. 

35. Members made the following requests/suggestions: 

a) Page 3, Item 10 of the Paper – Clarification was sought that this part of the 
recommendation did not mean that conditions on the Decision Notice were to be 
different than those conditions on the application that is determined and agreed at 
the Committee. This was not the intention but a recommendation for a review of 
the way that conditions are written for approval on planning applications and 
subsequently on Decision Notices 
b) 1.2 – Have regard for more ways of interacting with the public eg Service points. 
c) Under explanation of Call-in on Page 2 of the Appendix, there is a need to refer to 
the aims of the Park. 
d) 2.1 – Suggestion that the ‘criminal offence’ issue is brought into the introduction; 
alteration to the final part of 2.2 and bring the confidentiality issue in 3.5 to more 
prominence. It was noted that much of this is subject to Scottish Government 
guidance and the CNPA are committed to follow that guidance 
e) 3.9 - It was accepted that the sentence should stop at ‘prioritised’ 
f) 3.13 -– Agreed to soften the sentence and advise that the persons involved should 
seek redress through their own legal channels 



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g) The map of the Park area should clearly define the boundaries of the 4 local 
authorities and possibly the 5th one; Highland Perthshire. 
h) Need to involve the Community Councils more as a consultee and that the CNPA 
Monitoring & Enforcement Officer should speak to them about his role and the role 
of the public in the process. 
i) There was general agreement by the Committee on the need for a robust Charter. 
j) The Convenor asked that members send any further comments to Bruce Luffman to 
assist in his final compilation of the Charter. 

36. The Convenor advised members that planning conditions and the review of decision 
notices would be considered by the Committee as a separate item in the future and 
recommended acceptance of the paper subject to amendment of points raised by 
members on the content and engagement with Community Councils on a variety of 
points in terms of planning with a summary leaflet. 


AGENDA ITEM 7: 
ANY OTHER BUSINESS 

37. Duncan Bryden brought members’ attention to an informal discussion session following 
the meeting. 

38. This was a paper regarding application 08/443/CP for outline Planning Permission for the 
Nursing Home at Burnside, Aviemore. Andrew Tait, presented the paper on behalf of 
Hilary MacBean and asked the committee to authorise an amendment to the resolution 
of 29th May 2009, Item 2, Paper 7) to grant planning permission for the above named 
development. The applicant had requested the Committee to agree an upfront payment 
of the bus shelter subsidy which would simplify the process and avoid the need for a 
legal agreement covering payment in sections. The bus shelter being provided by 
planning condition. The members agreed to this subject to legal advisor approval and an 
additional condition that the electronic interactive display referred to was a universally 
accessible. 


AGENDA ITEM 8: 
DATE OF NEXT MEETING 

39. Friday, 26 June 2009, 10.30 am, The Albert Hall, Ballater. 

40. Committee Members are requested to ensure that any Apologies for this meeting are 
submitted to the Planning Office in Ballater. 

41. The meeting concluded at 11:50hrs.