Home Bargains at Smithton gets the green light from Highland Council on the narrowest of margins
Plans for a new £5 million Home Bargains outlet in Smithton have been narrowly agreed at Highland Council’s south planning committee.
The members of the committee were split by eight votes each after an amendment was brought forward to reject planning permission.
The chairman of the committee, Councillor Paul Oldham, had the casting vote and backed the development that is expected to create around 40 jobs.
The project appeared to enjoy broad support within the local area with 112 comments in favour of it going ahead next to 26 objections.
But local member Morven Reid raised a number of objections to it going ahead, voicing concerns of a number of residents who were against it and she was not alone.
It is the second Home Bargains store to be approved in less than seven days after planning permission was granted for another outlet in the former Wickes DIY outlet on Longman Road.
A number of councillors spoke out against such a large retail presence in a primarily residential area with plans calling for a 35,000 sqft Home Bargains store with 122 parking spaces.
The store would sit between Barn Church Road and Drummossie Road and would be prominently visible to those travelling through that area and or living nearby.
Nairn Cllr Laurie Fraser said during the debate that “a big box retail space” is not conducive to being a few metres from homes and gardens in Smithton and Culloden.
Cllr Reid’s amendment stated: “Due to the prominent size and scale of the building and its close proximity to residential houses it will have a detrimental impact on individual and community residential amenity and, therefore, contrary to policy 28 of the Highland wide local Development plan
It is also not viewed that the proposal is compatible with policy 14 of National Planning Framework 4 as the proposal is not designed to improve the quality of the area as it is not consistent with six qualities of successful places, in particular the qualities of 'pleasant' and 'distinctive'.
“This is due to the layout of the development, the scale and massing and design of the buildings and lack of enclosure which fails to create an attractive sense of place that would be expected within a town centre.”
But that was ultimately voted down by nine votes to eight.
