Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair, Councillor Gordon Blair, welcomed everyone to the meeting.  He explained that no person present would be entitled to speak other than the Members of the Local Review Body (LRB) and Mr Jackson, who would provide procedural advice if required.

He advised that his first task would be to establish if the Members of the LRB felt that they had sufficient information before them to come to a decision on the Review.

Councillor Kain said he felt he had enough information.

Councillor Irvine said he did not think he had enough information and the gap for him was the lack of context regarding the flooding.  He suggested it might be beneficial to have a site inspection with the Council’s Flood Risk Adviser present.

Councillor Blair agreed that a site inspection might be advantageous.  He commented that he was concerned about any further delay in the process and hoped that this could be arranged as quickly as possible

Mr Jackson advised that a site inspection may be appropriate but he wanted to highlight to the Members that the crux of the matter was that SEPA and the Flood Risk Adviser have not been able to make an assessment of any flood risk issues as there has been no Flood Risk Assessment undertaken.  He advised that as detailed in the paperwork before Members, the onus was on the Applicant to produce this.  He pointed out that SEPA have advised that they cannot make a judgement on this until a Flood Risk Assessment is submitted by the Applicant.

The Members of the LRB took on board the advice from Mr Jackson and agreed not to proceed with a site inspection at this time.  They agreed that the Applicant should be requested to produce the Flood Risk Assessment as requested by SEPA and the Council’s Flood Risk Adviser in their consultation responses and that he be given until 31 July 2024 to provide this information.

It was noted that the Applicant would also need to send a copy of the Flood Risk Assessment to all interested parties by 31 July 2024.  This would then give SEPA and the Council’s Flood Risk Adviser the opportunity to consider and comment on the Flood Risk Assessment before the LRB met again.

The Members of the LRB also agreed to request from the Planning Officer appropriate conditions and reasons to attach to any consent in the event the LRB were minded to approve the application taking account of the outcome of comments received from SEPA and the Council’s Flood Risk Adviser.

Decision

The Members of the Local Review Body agreed:

1.    To request the Applicant to submit, by 31 July 2024, the Flood Risk Assessment as requested by SEPA and the Council’s Flood Risk Adviser in their consultation responses submitted in respect of this proposal;

2.    To request SEPA and the Council’s Flood Risk Adviser to make a judgement and advise the LRB accordingly on the proposed development based on the Flood Risk Assessment submitted; and

3.    To request Planning to submit appropriate conditions and reasons, taking account of the outcome of comments received from SEPA and the Council’s Flood Risk Adviser, to attach to any consent in the event the Members of the LRB were minded to approve the application.

(Reference: Notice of Review and Supporting Documents and Comments from Interested Parties, submitted)