Planning changes would be bad move, say chiefs

CONVERTING shops in town centres into houses to address the housing emergency would be a bad move, according to this region’s planning chief. David Suttie and his planning department were tasked with responding to 36 questions in the Scottish Government’s permitted development rights (PDR) consultation. Councillors will then have their say after next discussing the matter at this week’s economy and infrastructure committee. Two key questions surrounded converting town centre shops and agricultural buildings into properties to help provide more homes in the area. Question six asked: “Do you believe that there should be new PDR for the replacement of agricultural and forestry buildings with new-build homes in particular circumstances?” The council responded ‘no’, and added: “The erection of new dwellinghouses in open countryside should still require the submissions of a planning application in order to allow the acceptability of each specific proposal and its location to be properly assessed on its own merits. “Many agricultural buildings are there for historic reasons and for that specific use but they would be unsustainable or otherwise inappropriate locations for dwellinghouses.” Question 10 asked: “Do you consider that proposals to convert the ground floor or entirety of buildings in town and city centres to residential use should benefit from PDR?” Council officers again responded ‘no’, and stated: “There are concerns about the impact on the vitality and viability of centres of larger towns and cities if residential uses were to be allowed as permitted development on the ground floor in particular, especially in terms of ‘dead frontages’ being formed. “The level of residential amenity for those at the ground floor level would be lower than those at first floor and above. “It is recognised that in smaller settlements, it is not uncommon for residential properties to exist in the ‘centre’ next to Class 1A uses but accurately and consistently defining what constitutes a ‘town’ and its ‘centre’ may prove challenging (whilst larger settlements have a defined town centre on our Local Development Plan Inset Maps, this may not be the case right across Scotland).”