SD46 Supporting Information

Scott Hobbs Planning 1

0131 226 7225

[email protected]

www.scotthobbsplanning.com

7a Alva Street

Edinburgh

EH2 4PH

23 January 2014

Clackmannanshire LDP Proposed Plan Burnside, Clackmannan

Representation on behalf of Ambassador Homes Limited and Carronvale Homes Limited (in

Receivership

1. This Representation is made in relation to a site at Burnside in Clackmannan. A site location plan is below.

The response relates to the specific sections within the Proposed Local Development Plan (LDP) and the

Representation is dealt with under the following subheadings as they relate to each of the sections of the

Plan.

Section 1 Introduction

2. Paragraph 1.3 refers to the LDP and its associated Supplementary Guidance replacing the existing Structure

Plan (2002) and the Clackmannanshire Local Plan (2004) and its Alterations. It is important to note, that

paragraph 1.3 refers to the LDP replacing these documents once adopted and the Development Plan for


the purposes of determining planning applications remains the Structure Plan and the adopted Local Plan (as

Altered) until the LDP is adopted.

3. Paragraph 1.10 sets out a range of considerations which can either constrain or prevent development and

includes availability of land, infrastructure capacity, reuse of brownfield and vacant sites and the need to

ensure quality in all new developments. The Burnside site was, and remains, allocated in the adopted

Clackmannanshire Local Plan First Alternation (Housing Land) adopted in October 2011. The purpose of the

alternation was to allocate new land to meet additional demand for new housing sites up to 2017. The

allocation of the Burnside site satisfies the considerations set out at paragraph 1.10. The Proposed Plan

deletes this allocation and instead includes the land as white land. This provides no certainty for existing or

future residents of Clackmannan in relation to the future of this vacant site. In choosing to delete the site, the

Proposed Plan is contrary to the considerations as set out at paragraph 1.10.

4. The southernmost part of the site, accessed from Park Place and located to the rear of houses fronting

Burnside Crescent, was formerly in use as a haulage and storage yard, and is a brownfield site. The

remainder of the site is grazing/redundant land.

Section 2 Vision and Objectives

5. The Vision Statement for the LDP is set out at paragraph 2.6. The Vision refers to a community that has

experienced a successful transition to a vibrant low-carbon economy. Deleting the Burnside site from an

allocated housing site within the LDP is clearly in conflict with this first sentence of the Vision Statement. The

Burnside site is the closest allocation in Clackmannan to the town centre and to the area where the majority

of services and facilities are concentrated. The allocation of the site in the adopted Local Plan seeks to

encourage short trips to these services and facilities, minimising the need for car journeys and representing

an efficient reuse of land. Deleting the allocation introduces uncertainty for the future of the site and

encourages housing development at more peripheral locations, such as the proposed allocation H28 at

Helensfield, to the north of the town. Development of this site for 55 houses would result in the majority of

trips to the town centre being made by a private car and essentially replacing the current Burnside allocation

with the Helensfield allocation is entirely in conflict with the low-carbon objectives of the LDP Vision

Statement.

6. The objective of encouraging people to live close to services and facilities is clearly set out at paragraph 2.12

of the Proposed Plan, which states new developments will foster pride and provide a strong sense of place,

reducing the dominance of motor vehicles and encouraging people to walk and cycle, not just for recreation,

but as part of their everyday journeys to school, work or to reach shops and services. The established

Burnside allocation is entirely consistent with this objective and deleting it from the LDP is an entirely

regressive step.

7. The Burnside site is the subject of two previous planning permissions (06/00313/FULL and 07/00307/FULL),

granted in March 2007 and September 2007 respectively. The principal application was for the erection of

81 houses with associated roads, footpaths and landscaping at the Burnside site, granted on 1 March 2007.


This planning permission has expired, principally as a result of the applicants (Carronvale Homes) inability to

progress the development due to lack of finance prior to entering insolvency and then not providing the

Insolvency Practitioner with the requisite information to allow an application for an extension or renewal to be

made before the expiry.. The report on the planning application by the Head of Planning, dated 16 February

2007 states, in relation to the existing use of the site, part of the site is in agricultural use, part is derelict

land, while the southern-most part of the site is used as a haulage depot served off Park Place (paragraph

3.1). A copy of the Head of Plannings report is at Document 1.

Section 4 Area Statements

8. Clackmannan is located within the Forth Area and in relation to housing, the LDP Housing Aims (Table 1) are

to encourage brownfield development and address areas of social exclusion by encouraging regeneration.

This is referred to in the Head of Plannings report on the previous planning applications at the Burnside site.

The site is largely brownfield and as such is entirely consistent with Housing Aims of the Proposed Plan as

set out at Table 1 in Section 4. In relation to the Built Environment, the Aims of the LDP (again, at Table 1)

are to utilise brownfield and infill sites to their full potential.

9. The Forth Area Statement is at paragraph 4.5 and the Table at paragraph 4.5.11 outlines the housing

allocation within the Forth Area. The housing allocation within Clackmannan has reduced from 142 in the

adopted Local Plan First Alteration to 61 units in the Proposed Plan table at paragraph 4.5.11), a reduction of

some 57%. This reduction is despite the Spatial Strategy, at paragraph 3.17 of the Proposed Plan stating

Forth, with its good range of services and transport links will continue to be the area where the majority of

housing and employment will be located, with associated regeneration opportunities being pursued wherever

possible. The Burnside site has also been deleted despite the fact that it is predominantly a brownfield site

and which has been the subject of a Local Plan allocation for many years, and the subject of two previous

planning permissions for 81 houses.

Section 8 Schedule of Sites

10. Two housing sites are allocated in Clackmannan, at Main Street / North Street (site H27 six units) and at

Helensfield (site H28- 55 units). The Burnside site as currently allocated in the adopted Clackmannanshire

Local Plan is deleted.

11. The schedule of sites at Section 8.6 Creating Sustainable Communities Clackmannan and the

Clackmannan Proposals Map should be amended to reinstate the Burnside site as an allocation, consistent

with the adopted Local Plan and reflecting the fact that there has been no change in circumstances since the

Burnside site was previously allocated in the Clackmannanshire Local Plan first alternation (October 2011).

12. There is no need to consider the locational and physical characteristics of the Burnside site, given its previous

allocation and its history of planning permissions for residential development. The majority of the site is

indisputably brownfield, having previously been in use as a haulage and storage yard, and is physically within


walking distance of Clackmannan town centre and all facilities and services which the town offers. On this

basis, the allocation the Burnside site is undoubtedly consistent with the Proposed Plans Spatial Strategy,

Vision Statement and principal policies.

13. As referred to in the Head of Plannings report on the 2006 planning application (at Document 1) the

proposed residential development would be served with a new access from Riccarton which will require

traffic calming measures on the existing public road. No vehicular access is proposed from the site via Park

Place, but this substandard private road will be upgraded with a new turning head and linked to the site with

a footpath that will provide convenient access on foot to the town centre. The Head of Planning found the

proposed housing development to be consistent with a Planning Brief prepared for the site, stating that the

current application for 81 houses reflects the terms of the Brief and existing detailed planning permission in

terms of site layout and access position. In addition structure planting is proposed around the site

boundaries to act as a buffer between the site and adjacent bypass and shortly to be re-opened railway line

(paragraph 3.2).

14. The March 2007 planning permission is at Document 2. Condition 3 required the Council, in consultation

with SEPA, to be satisfied that the proposed development would be adequately protected from flood risk,

based on the one in two hundred year storm event, and that the proposed development would not result in,

or exacerbate, a flooding problem elsewhere. Condition 4 of the planning permission required a Drainage

Impact Assessment to be submitted and approved by the Council, based on a SUDS design.

15. There has been extensive work undertaken in relation to drainage issues as they relate to the site and

particularly in relation to the 2007 planning permission. A Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) was submitted with

that application and a CAR registration application for engineering works comprising of a bridge crossing the

Gaudrie Burn was submitted in December 2007. Full details of the drainage-related submissions and

responses is set out in the document prepared by Fairhurst attached as Document 3.

16. A draft of the Proposed Plan was issued to SEPA on 21 May 2013 and SEPA responded by letter to

Clackmannanshire Council dated 4 July 2013. A copy of this letter is at Document 4. At paragraph 2.1 the

SEPA letter recommends a number of the housing sites in the Proposed Plan be deleted. Site H32

Burnside, Clackmannan, is one of these sites. The reason given by SEPA at paragraph 2.1 is due to the

significant level of flood risk at these locations.

17. SEPA considers that the development of these sites would be contrary to Clackmannanshire Councils duties

under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 and the guidance set out in Scottish Planning Policy

(SPP) and quotes paragraph 197 of the SPP which states development which would have a significant

probability of being affected by flooding or would increase the probability of flooding elsewhere should not be

permitted. Paragraph 2.5 of the SPP is also quoted, which states that LDPs should safeguard the flood

storage and conveyance capacity of functional flood plans. Reference is also made by SEPA in its letter, at

paragraph 2.2, to what it describes as statutory guidance produced by Scottish Government entitled

Delivering Sustainable Flood Management.


18. In seeking to rely on the SPP, SEPA is entirely in conflict with its position in relation to the recently adopted

Clackmannanshire Local Plan First Alteration (adopted in October 2011). The SPP is a statement of Scottish

Government policy dated February 2010, some 20 months before the Alteration, including the Burnside site

as a housing allocation, was adopted. If the Burnside site was acceptable in terms of the SPP paragraphs

quoted in October 2011, it remains acceptable in 2014, unless other circumstances or policy has changed.

19. SEPA also relies, in its letter, on the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. This was enacted in June

2009 and, as with the SPP, was a relevant consideration in the consideration of whether or not to allocate

the Burnside site for housing in the Local Plan Alteration of October 2011. The allocation of the Burnside site

was not considered by SEPA to be contrary to the Councils duties then, and it cannot be considered to be

contrary to the Councils duties now.

20. The SEPA guidance Delivering Sustainable Flood Management was also available prior to the decision to

allocate the Burnside site in October 2011, having been issued by Scottish Government in June 2011.

21. On the basis of the above, the concerns raised by SEPA in its letter of May 2013 should relate to new site

allocations to be included in the Proposed Plan, and not to sites allocated in the October 2011 First

Alteration, unless SEPA can demonstrate that there has been a change in circumstances. No evidence of a

change in circumstances has been provided.

22. SEPAs Indicative River and Coastal Flood Maps, first published in 2006, showed the majority of the site as

potentially at risk. SEPA published a new Flood Map on 15 January 2014 derived using methodologies that

provide a greater level of detail and reliability. The maps now show the area of fluvial flood risk from the

Goudnie Burn to lie along the corridor of the watercourse, in line with the results of the detailed flood risk

assessment for the site.

23. The extensive flood-related work undertaken by the engineers appointed by the then developer of the site,

Carronvale Homes, has demonstrated a satisfactory flood risk at the site. In addition, SEPA granted an

authorisation in December 2007, under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations

2005 (the Controlled Activity Regulations or CAR), for the construction of a bridge over the Goudnie Burn

as part of the development proposals for the site authorised by the March 2007 planning permission. A copy

of the authorisation is at Document 5.

24. A simple licence authorisation under CAR was granted in January 2009 in relation to re-profiling works to the

banks along the Goudnie Burn as it passes through the site, and these are at Documents 6 and 7.

25. In Paragraph 24 of Annex 2 to SEPAs response to the Council, there is a detailed commentary on the

Burnside site. Paragraph 24.1 refers to the majority of the site being at risk in SEPAs Indicative River and

Coastal Flood Map. As detailed above, this map is now superseded and SEPAs recently published Flood

Map shows the majority of the site as being outwith even the low flood risk (0.1% annual probability) area.

26. Paragraph 24.2 refers to previous flood risk assessments dated 1998 and 2002. These were superseded

by the flood risk assessment carried out by Fairhurst in 2007 (report revised in 2008). It also advises that


engineering solutions required to mitigate flood risk under a 2003 application would now be unlikely to obtain

a licence under the 2011 Controlled Activity Regulations. These comments have been rendered obsolete by

events since 2003. Following consultation by Fairhurst with SEPA, in 2008 Carronvale Homes submitted a

CAR simple licence application for a revised engineering works scheme consisting of bank re-profiling. The

application was supported by the hydraulic modelling and flood risk assessment carried out by Fairhurst.

SEPA granted CAR authorisation in January 2009 under the 2005 regulations. It is understood that this

authorisation remains current.

27. Paragraph 24.3 refers to policy of avoidance of flood risk supported by the Flood Risk Management

(Scotland) Act 2009. The 2008 flood risk assessment report and 2009 CAR authorisation demonstrate that

the site can be developed in accordance with current policy.

28. In summary, there has been no change in circumstances in relation to flooding legislation, guidance or

practice since the allocation of the Burnside site for housing in the Clackmannanshire Local Plan First

Alteration, adopted in October 2011.

29. The only change in evidence since the site was previously allocated is a reduction in the flood risk across the

site, as illustrated in the 2014 SEPA Flood Map.

30. There remains a need for significant new housing development in the Forth Area of Clackmannanshire to

secure an effective five year housing land supply in line with SPP. The Burnside site is available, suitable and

now in the control of a housing developer capable of funding and delivering 81 houses at the site. The

commitment of the developer, Ambassador Homes, in partnership with the Receiver, is demonstrated

through the submission, on 23rd January 2014, of a Proposal of Application Notice for residential

development and associated access infrastructure and landscaping at the Burnside site.

31. Failure to include the site in the LDP will introduce uncertainty for the local community who are faced with

the site continuing in industrial/storage use, and uncertainty in terms of sustaining services and facilities in

Clackmannan which rely on a steady and increasing population.

32. The Burnside site should be allocated as an effective housing site in the LDP capable of delivering 81 houses.


Document 1: Report to Head of Administration and Legal Services, Clackmannanshire Council 16/2/07

Document 2: Planning Permission 06/00313/FULL 1/3/07

Document 3: Flood Risk Timeline, Fairhurst Engineers

Document 4: SEPA response to draft Proposed Plan 4/7/13

Document 5: CAR Authorisation 2007

