Below is an email I sent to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on landscape guidance.
I had the support for my request for a review from Cleish and Fossoway Community Councils, Friends of the Ochil’s, Kinross-shire Civic Trust and the Council of Rural Scotland. Unfortunately, my request for a review was deemed not a competent amendment by the Council’s Legal Officer, something which I do have an issue with!
In the end, at the Committee on 29 January, following a recess a revised wording was suggested for the amendment so that the future work programme could look at this question again but because of concerns regarding slippage in that I lost the vote by one. However, subsequent to that decision, I have met with the Leader of the Council’s Administration, who has asked Forward Planning to bring forward some options to address the communities’ concerns on landscape designation and I await the outcome of that discussion.
Proposed LDP2 Supplementary Guidance on Landscape
Dear Colleagues I am substituting for Councillor Stewart at the above. I have an urgent need to address the above paper in respect of Landscape Appendix 11, in particular para 2-24 on page 159 relating to the Devon Gorge & Cleish Hills.
I contest the Reports’ analysis and enclose my letter of 12/9/19 to Forward Planning and enclosures for your consideration. I would particularly refer to that letter and the enclosures re Spring 2014, my letter of 19/1/15, representations to the E&I committee of 23/03/15, my letter of 31/8/17 on Renewable Energy Guidance, my email of 21/2/18 to Peter Marshall, etc, outlining the long community campaign on this matter.
In summary the Report does not acknowledge the importance given to the Cleish Hills and Devon Gorge and won as AGLV’s in a previous local plan. The lack of recognising cross-border designations for both the Devon Gorge and Cleish Hills is contradicted in the Report, the Devon Gorge is not small scale if it is considered as part of the Ochil Hills LLA from which its river flows; it would be a simple matter to extend the Ochils LLA to include it.
The Report states that no evidence has been given to support the assertion that LUC’s methodology was flawed. This is an incorrect statement, in particular it is subjective (see my letter of 19/1/15 aforementioned)! I fail to see why the conclusion of my letter of 12/9/19 has not been afforded due cognizance and thereby suggest an amendment which rejects Para 2-24 on Page 159 of the Report and instructs Forward Planning to carry out an in-house review of the assessment of the Devon Gorge & Cleish Hills with a view to designation as Local Landscape Areas, with special qualities previously recognised; I hope I have a seconder to this amendment.
Kind regards,
Councillor Mike Barnacle