Nairn River Community Council recently attended a public online meeting on 2 Sept for Nairn residents to have their say on a proposed major development by Springfield Properties PLC for 1000 new houses in the Granny Barbour’s Road area of East Nairn.
This is a ‘pre-planning consultation’, legally required to last at least 12 weeks, started when the application was lodged with Highland Council on 17th August, but likely to proceed swiftly after that to Highland Council South planning applications committee(SPAC) if there are no public objections raised. If a decision is then made by Highland Councillors at SPAC to approve a development, it can not be appealed by the community afterwards. Only a developer can appeal a decision. (as with Albyn Housing at the Manor, Cawdor Road)
An outline ‘Planning Application Summary’ ( not yet a formal Application for Planning Permission) was lodged on 17th August with Highland Council by Springfield Properties. Neighbours received letters through the door around 28 August – initiating a ‘pre planning’ consultation phase of at least 12 weeks. Our Community Council has not yet been notified of this as Statutory Consultee. (Half the land is on Auldearn CC patch) We are looking into why this is- as it is imperative that local people have the chance to share their views on a development with massive implications for the whole of Nairnshire
Nairn River CC have invited a Springfield representative to attend our next public online meeting on 15th September, and have also asked for face to face consultation opportunities to be arranged at the Community and Arts Centre (to be confirmed) .
See latest information on this ‘developer led’ consultation below on Springfield’s website.
Extract pasted below re ‘next steps’ for the Springfield initial ‘pre consultation’
- You can fill out the feedback form HERE or email Stuart.Morrison@Springfield.co.uk with your feedback before Thursday the 30th of September 2021.
The next steps:
- Following conclusion of this ( 2 Sept, 7 Oct online) public consultation event, comments will be comprehensively assessed and reviewed. These will be taken into consideration in preparing a detailed application for planning permission;
- The collective comments from these public consultation events will be included in a Pre-Planning Application Public Consultation Report which will accompany the application for planning permission to be submitted to Highland Council. Such a document is a statutory requirement of the planning application process.
- The planning application will also be accompanied by a Design & Access Statement, a Supporting Planning Statement, a Transportation Assessment, an Ecological Appraisal, an Archaeological Written Scheme of Investigation, Noise Assessment, a Site Investigation Report and a Site Drainage Strategy.
Please note, comments made to the prospective Applicant do not constitute representations to the Planning Authority. A further opportunity to make representations to Highland Council will be available following formal submission of the planning application.
Nairn River CC as statutory consultee will be discussing how to respond to this at our next public meeting on 15th September. Please also feed in your views to us to help inform this response at info.nrivercc@gmail.com.
The Scottish Planning Framework best practice requiring local authorities and developers to consult with communities fully for at least 12 weeks, before a proposal goes into the Planning system which normally permits only a 2 week consultation window.
Our Chair has already given an initial statement to the Inverness Courier raising the key point that Nairn’s basic infrastructure is already at bursting point. The town cannot cope with new development on any scale until overdue investment is made to tackle A96 road congestion, and upgrade sewerage, drains, flood defences, schools, and other community facilities to cope with a growing population.
Infrastructure investment, as above, should have kept pace with the last ‘1000 new houses’ built at Lochloy in line with the Scottish Planning Framework’s ‘infrastructure first’ policy. But it has not, with no school or community facilities, and one congested road serving 1000 homes at Lochloy.( more elsewhere on this blog) This infrastructure ‘gap’ must be addressed now, for the whole of East Nairn, which needs the ‘A96 bypass’ in place and other essential services upgraded before any more new housing can be consented by Highland Council.
Adding more pressure to existing stretched infrastructure could lead to more traffic jams, floods, and pollution of air and water, damaging quality of life for all Nairn residents and ruining our fragile natural environment which is also the ‘main attraction’ for visitors.
Please have your say on this proposal which has major implications for Nairn
Public Notice Below from Inverness Courier of Springfield’s ‘pre planning’ consultation open till 30 September
There will be an online opportunity for public to ask Springfield questions on 2 Sept and 7 October. More information on Springfield’s website
As a community council we will be pushing to extend public consultation time to give local people a chance to consider implications of such a major development and communicate their views on what they want for Nairn direct to Highland Council and their 4 Nairn Highland Council elected representatives as well as via their community councils
NAIRN RIVER COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Comhairle Coimhearsnachd Abhainn Narann
PLEASE SEE BELOW NOTIFICATION OF A PRE-PLANNING APPLICATION CONSULTATION NOTICE FROM SPRINGFIELD ON GRANNY BARBOUR ROAD AND ADJACENT FIELDS
FROM INVERNESS COURIER
ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT NAIRN RIVER COMMUNITY COUNCIL info.nrivercc@gmail.com
Nairn River Community Council 