Support for Donside business
A KINTORE man has won the support of Aberdeenshire Councillors, for his plans to build a new house at Tough, near Alford – to allow him to be closer to a rural business that has been run by his family for 83 years.
But he has a final hurdle to clear before getting the go-ahead for the development.
Members of the Marr Area Committee disagreed with their Planning Service that Gary McLeod, of Melrose Place, Kintore, had failed to prove an economic need to build a new house near the business at Whitehouse.
A planning application to allow him to build the house had first come before the Committee in May this year (through agent Building Solutions, West High Street, Inverurie).
Members deferred a decision to allow Mr McLeod time to produce a business plan to support his need case and address other issues.
A fresh application, for permission to build a new house, on farm land east of Pinewood House, Tough and to change the designation of land at the site from farming to domestic garden ground, was today considered by the Committee.
Members were reminded in a report that the business supplied a wide range of items – from railway sleepers and shipping containers to telegraph poles and snow chains – to the farming, industrial and gardening industries. It had been argued, at the previous meeting, that Mr McLeod needed to be close to the business, to serve customers at any time of the day. The yard is at Whitehouse and the proposed new house would be one mile away.
The planners' report argued that the house would not be "an appropriate addition" to an existing group of houses at the proposed site, the siting of the house was considered to be – "unassociated from the existing business" - and no economic need case had been made. They again recommended refusal.
However, Councillor Alastair Ross said that he believed they should give their approval to Mr McLeod's application. It was a thriving business but it would be very difficult for the applicant to get a house any closer to the business than the site that had been identified. For family reasons it would be unreasonable to expect his father to move out of the house at the site that he currently occupied.
Councillor Joanna Strathdee said that she would support approval. There was clearly no room at the business site to build another house and a journey from Kintore to the firm's yard was a long distance for someone to travel, to respond to customers requiring service after working hours. Councillor Moira Ingleby also added her support, saying that the Council should do all that it could to support a rural business.
The Committee agreed to support the application but was advised that the issue would have to go before the Council's Infrastructure Services Committee for a final decision to be made.
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Weather for Banchory
Monday 21 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North east
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 7 C to 21 C
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