Planners recently told Granton Homes their Kingsmeadows application would be refused. Before a decision was issued, they appealed.

Peebles Community Council has submitted a comprehensive objection setting out why the community believes the proposal breaches 22 planning policies – NPF4 policies 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 20 and 22; and LDP2 policies EP1, EP2, EP3, EP9, EP10, EP11, EP12, EP13, EP15, IS8, PMD2 and PMD5.

Expert reports

We wish to thank two qualified experts for volunteering their time and expertise to provide expert assessments on behalf of our community.

The impact to trees and the woodland was assessed by a retired Chartered Arboriculturalist and former Registered Consultant of the Institute of Chartered Foresters with 40 years forestry and arboriculture experience, specialising in trees and planning matters for over 30 years. Read the full arboriculture report.

The ecological impact was assessed by a Chartered Environmentalist, Member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) and professional ecologist with 30 years’ experience of assessing the ecological impact of development proposals in the Scottish Borders. Read the full ecology report.

Issues

Granton request renewed permission – with reduced protection for the woodland.

• Condition 7 is vital protection for this woodland in the Peebles Conservation Area on the Tweed Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
• NatureScot and SBC’s ecologist agree that Condition 7 is necessary for the European Protected Species (EPS) in the Tweed.

The issues seem fundamental.

• This proposal for luxury flats does nothing to alleviate SBC’s affordable housing emergency.
• The proposal fails many policies, for example the three veteran and 37 notable trees that would be at risk breaches NPF4 policy 6.
• The applicant provides no ecological or other expert reports to support this application – the reports available expired years ago and can’t be relied on for this decision.
• We now know that flood levels in the Tweed are half a metre higher than previously believed; this proposal breaches LDP2 policy IS8 by being in the flood plain and doesn’t provide a competent Flood Risk Assessment.

We ask that this appeal be dismissed and permission refused.

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