Scorguie housing row rumbles on with fresh council objection - but developer defends plans
Controversial plans for new housing in Scorguie have again raised objections from council officers - but the developer has also fired back in defence of its proposals.
Highland Council's transport planning team has reiterated its earlier objection to the plans by Henderson Group Ltd for 12 flats off Scorguie Road after receiving further information from the developer.
In its latest submission the team lodged a formal objection, arguing that the planned surface water drainage for the site "is not sufficient" and that the design has also yet to be signed off by Scottish Water.
They have also warned that "we are not satisfied the ground conditions... are compatible with the drainage proposal".
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They said: “Permission for an overflow into an existing surface water sewer is only likely to be granted in ‘exceptional’ circumstances. As the current drainage proposal is dependant on a connection to a Scottish Water asset, the transport planning team objects to this application until it has been evidenced that Scottish Water approve of the connection to their existing surface water sewer as a high-level overflow for the system.”
The transport planning team had already raised concerns in earlier correspondence and added that a water percolation test carried out at the site after they voiced those earlier concerns had subsequently failed.
They also noted a number of conditions that would also need to be met to avoid other objections - including that the existing access through the site to the derelict Clachnaharry Care Home building be closed off.
Elsewhere, the council’s forestry officers have also previously voiced concerns over the likely loss of trees, and the impact the development could have on an area of protected woodland elsewhere on the site.
These concerns have mirrored those of local residents, who have been vocally critical of the potential damage to woodland and wildlife habitats, and also impact the privacy of overlooked residents living nearby. They have also raised fears that the housing will make known flash-flooding hotspots worse in nearby Clachnaharry Road..
But the developer has defended the proposals. In a statement submitted through their agents Bracewell Stirling Consulting before the transport planning team’s formal objection, Henderson Group stressed the housing would provide affordable homes and there were no plans for them to be used for holiday lets.
They added that the concerns of nearby residents were "understood" and that the plans would change "an otherwise established area of ground that has lain vacant for a considerable number of years", but they stressed that the land was "within the boundaries of the Inverness settlement development area".
The also stressed that the location of the flats at the south end of the site "serves to protect the integrity of the woodland area" and that the distance from the new builds to existing properties "exceeds... normal best practice requirement, ensuring privacy and amenity of each of the residents".
Responding to concerns over the impact on protected woodland on the site, they added: "Only five of the trees identified for removal are within the tree preservation order area and only one of those is a specimen above category C" and that "replacement compensatory planting" is planned.
Addressing wildlife impacts, they claimed that a possible badger set on the site showed "no signs of current use", that camera traps verified this, and that a possible further badger set identified nearby was located outside the site development boundary.
They also insisted that “The proposal has been the subject of extensive survey analysis. Additional information has been provided to demonstrate that firstly there is no flood risk associated with the site and secondly, the layout is designed to minimise the discharge of surface water from the site.
They continued; “A new subsurface geocellular storage area will be formed within the southwest corner of the site. This will act as a holding area for water associated with the drainage of the site. It has the potential to improve the existing situation with regard to the referenced ponding that occurs on Clachnaharry Road.”
It is not known whether the transport planning team saw the developer’s submission defending the proposed drainage of the site prior to lodging their objection. However, their objection was not uploaded to Highland Council’s planning portal until three days after the developer’s comments - raising the possibility that their assurances may not have been sufficient to address those concerns.
Indeed, the “geocellular storage area” and the ground conditions at its location were one of the factors cited as a reason for the team’s objection.