Local Review Body - 28/03/2013

At a MEETING of the LOCAL REVIEW BODY held at Dundee on 28th March, 2013.

 

Present:-

 

Depute Lord Provost Christina ROBERTS

Councillor David BOWES

Councillor Tom FERGUSON

 

Depute Lord Provost Christina ROBERTS, in the Chair.

 

The Chairman welcomed those present to the meeting and briefly outlined the role of the Local Review Body and officers, in particular advising that, although the Planning Adviser was an employee of the Planning Authority, he had not been involved in the determination of the case under review and was present to provide factual information and guidance only.

 

I MINUTES OF MEETINGS OF LOCAL REVIEW BODY OF 4TH DECEMBER, 2012 AND 19TH MARCH, 2013

 

The minutes of the above meetings were submitted and noted.

 

II REQUEST FOR REVIEW - LR1/13 - UNIT 1, FORTIES ROAD, BALDOVIE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, DUNDEE

 

There was submitted Agenda Note AN37-2013 giving details of a request for a review of the refusal of planning permission for the change of use of an existing industrial unit to form an Indoor Football Centre at Unit 1, Forties Road, Baldovie Industrial Estate, Dundee.

 

The Planning Adviser gave a brief outline of the application and the reasons for the refusal.

 

Thereafter, the Legal Adviser advised of the undernoted procedural/legal issues which required to be considered by the Local Review Body:-

 

The applicant had intimated in the Notice of Review that new material not before the Appointed Officer at the time of reaching his decision had been submitted with this application.

 

The new material included information regarding precedents for non-industrial uses on industrial sites, references to the Midnight League and the City's bid for the National Soccer Centre. It also consisted of comments on the objections and reasons provided for the refusal of the application. According to the applicant, reference was made to non-industrial uses on non-industrial sites in pre-application discussions but the issue was not formally raised with the officer. The proposals in respect of the Midnight League were not in place when the application was submitted and the Council's bid for the NSA was in its early stages and therefore neither of these matters could be raised before the Appointed Officer. Finally, the applicant only became aware of the objections and reasons for refusal after the application had been submitted and could not have been commented on before then.

 

In terms of Section 43B(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 as amended, in a review, a party to the proceedings is not to raise any matter which was not before the Appointed Officer at the time the determination reviewed was made unless that party can demonstrate either that the matter could not have been raised before that time, or that its not being raised before that time was a consequence of exceptional circumstances. If either of these tests was met then the Local Review Body should take the new information into consideration in reaching its decision.

 

In any event, in terms of Section 43B(2) of the 1997 Act as amended, the Local Review Body was, required, in reaching its decision, to have regard to the provisions of the Development Plan and any other material considerations. Therefore, if the Local Review Body considered that the new information contained material considerations, it was required to take these into account. If not, and if neither of the criteria in terms of sub-section (1) was met, the new information should not be considered.

 

The Local Review Body agreed with the view of the Legal Adviser that the new material referred to in the application for review should be taken into consideration and should not be ruled out at this stage.

 

Thereafter, the Local Review Body considered whether it felt that it had sufficient information before it to determine the review at that time, or whether it required any further information. Members noted that the applicant had requested that the review be undertaken on the basis of a site visit, further written submissions and one or more headings.

 

The Local Review Body considered the documentation submitted and, after discussion, agreed to request further written submissions in respect of the undernoted matters under the provisions of Regulations 13 and 15 of the Town and Country Planning (Schemes of Delegation and Local Review Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2008 from the following individuals:-

 

From the Applicant

 

(a) Evidence demonstrating the full nature and extent of marketing undertaken with respect of the property since December, 2010. This is additional to the information that had been provided by the applicant in respect of the marketing information provided by Rydens dated 28th January, 2011.

 

(b) Comments on the accuracy of the e-mail from Andy Boal of Rydens LLP to Barry McDermott of Soccerworld dated 27th September, 2012. The applicant in his supporting statement of 19th June, 2012 stated that Rydens are supportive of a temporary use of the building. Mr Boal seems to indicate that Rydens have had no involvement with the property since its sale in December, 2010.

 

From the Director of City Development

 

Details of plots of land and units which have been sold or let within the Baldovie Estate since 2010. Information in respect of the size of the units let/sold should also be provided.

 

The Local Review Body also agree to hold an accompanied site visit on Thursday, 18th April, 2013 at 2.30 pm, and requested that an officer from the Transportation Section of the City Development Department be in attendance.

 

 

 

 

Christina ROBERTS, Chairperson.