Black Isle skate park refused retrospective planning permission over 'major breach'
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Councillors have rejected retrospective planning permission for a skate bowl built at a Black Isle property amid a flurry of more than 30 local objections.
Taran Campbell sought to extend his house to include a games area, cinema or snug, a wellness studio and a gym as well as build a large 148-metre square shed.
But he did not wait for planning permission before building a skate bowl on his property despite council officers warning him not to proceed.
The north planning applications committee were recommended to approve planning consent but instead overwhelmingly voted against it by nine to four.
Black Isle ward councillor Sarah Atkin (pictured) described the area of Drumsmittal as “tranquil” and said the “people in the area live fairly unobtrusive, unflashy lives – they just work hard and get on with life”.
She added: “The values are really ones of modesty and understatement so it is fairly understandable when something punctuates this tranquillity it is going to generate a huge amount of upset and controversy.”
She was frustrated that the material planning consideration of change of use was “barely referenced” in the report and said the creation of the skate bowl was “not a minor breach” as she brought a motion to reject planning.
It argued that the development “fails to demonstrate sensitive siting and fails to respect the local distinctiveness of the surrounding landscape” and that it “would prove significantly detrimental to the local character and surrounding area.”
Cllr Mathew Reiss agreed, saying: “It is not a small thing, it was a pretty substantial breach of what I assume he was told to stop doing and I actually think Cllr Atkin was slightly more charitable than myself in the way she has viewed it.
“Do we just trust the applicant’s assurance that this is a private skate park solely for nobody else’s use – is there any other house in the Highlands with a private skate park built in a similar manner?
“In an ideal world, being charitable, the planning for the house and the shed would probably appear to be straightforward and perhaps uncontroversial but the same cannot be said of the skate park.”
One neighbour, Sandra Dingwall, expressed relief saying: “This is brilliant”, though she fears Mr Campbell will appeal.
“To me the refusal of the whole development, particularly the retrospective installation of the skate park, is justice, in a time when retrospective planning applications are becoming endemic across the country.
“The planning policies are there to protect the character and nature of the local environment and the residents, yet they appeared to have been swept aside.”
She thanked the councillors who “recognised that this proposal was a huge development for this site and held to the very laudable principles of the planning policies”.
Mr Campbell, who previously gave assurances the facility was not a commercial venture, vowed to appeal saying he got the “wrong advice” despite warnings from council officers not to proceed with the skate bowl.
“Within one minute of the decision, I gave my architect instructions to appeal it,” he said.
“My opinion is the planning committee made their decision on emotional bias towards my neighbour rather than looking at the planning policies. I know now how to build one without contravening anything, but had been given wrong advice. Skateboarding is my passion and I will always have something to use at my house.”
