A committee at Holyrood will now hear calls for decisions on planning in Argyll and Bute to be made more locally.
Helensburgh Community Council says that local views were ignored on three significant developments, with councillors from other parts of Argyll and Bute voting through highly controversial proposals:
- The Persimmon housing development on the site of the former Ardencaple garden centre, where the number of houses being built was well in excess of what had been specified in the Local Plan.
- A care home in Hermitage Park, which community councillors said was too large given how close it was to Grade A listed buildings
- and the new leisure centre on the pier, where there were concerns that the site was at risk from storms
It isn’t just Helensburgh that is affected of course – six years ago plans for housing on a nature reserve in Kilcreggan were approved 65 miles away in Lochgilphead, despite officials saying there should be a local hearing.
That decision was taken by a margin of six votes to five, so it’s easy to see that the outcome might have been different if it had been at, say, Cove Burgh Hall.
A petition will now be considered by a Scottish Parliament committee – but how fair is the criticism of Argyll and Bute?
A quick look at the council’s website shows that 12 years ago its decisions in the Helensburgh area were carried out quite differently – and more locally.
The Helensburgh and Lomond area committee now meets four time a year, always in the civic centre in the town – although meetings can be viewed online by people who ask for a link in advance.
But in 2002 the committee met every month – and just in the town, but across the area, with meetings in villages including Luss, Cove, Rhu, Garelochhead. Cardross and Rosneath.
The accusation that some councillors haven’t been to the Rosneath Peninsula for many years, if at all, might not be fair currently – but under the previous system they would have had to do so.
The area committee agendas were quite different as well: some planning matters were always considered by a committee comprising councillors from all over Argyll and Bute, but others were decided locally, and purely by councillors from Helensburgh and Lomond.
Typically, in April 2002 planning applications in Kilcreggan, Tarbet, Clynder and Cardross were decided locally, while in another agenda item councillors were given a monthly list of delegated decisions taken by planning officials.
All of these decisions are now taken by the central planning, protective services and licensing committee, which has 15 members – only three of them are from the Helensburgh and Lomond area.
Another change, in 2010 saw the introduction of a local review body to resolve long-running planning applications – local members are specifically barred from taking part in. these meetings.
These issues are not unique to Argyll and Bute of course, but reflect changes at councils all over Scotland, which is why it’s appropriate for the issue to be discussed at Holyrood.
The specific proposals in the petition are perhaps open to debate – is it really feasible for community councils to decide planning applications in their own area? Many community councils have only a handful of members, who are unpaid and in most parts of this area are not actually elected.
But it is right to ask questions about why decisions seem to be taken so far away, by people who often lack local knowledge, leading to a situation where local people feel frustrated, helpless and cynical
The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to prioritise local participation in planning decisions affecting their area by:
- Providing a clear and unambiguous definition of the word “local” insofar as it applies to planning legislation
- Giving decision-making powers to community councils for planning applications in their local areas
- Ensuring that the way in which decisions on planning applications are taken is compatible with the provisions and ethos of the Community Empowerment Act 2015
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