Lowood planning guidance 'fundamentally flawed'

EXCLUSIVE by EWAN LAMB

Leading players at Scottish Borders Council have been warned their approach in planning the development of the Lowood country estate, near Melrose, may be fundamentally flawed and could be open to challenge in the courts.

The claim was made in a letter from David Bell, the consultant representing Middlemede Properties Ltd [MPL], owners of the salmon fishing rights on the River Tweed at Upper Pavilion, right next to Lowood.

Last week Mr Bell attended a so-called drop in session in Tweedbank, organised by the council to outline proposals for Lowood which the local authority purchased from two Cayman Islands companies for £11 million, including fees and taxes.

But he noted there were still no details concerning the commercial viability of the house building proposals on the 100-acre estate where between 300 and 450 new homes could be constructed.

Middlemede and their representatives insist that the financial viability aspect of the Lowood scheme should have been settled before SBC briefed a firm of specialists - Land Use Consultants (LUC) - who are now working on Special Planning Guidance (SPG) for the site. Their report is expected to be presented to councillors later this year.

Following his Tweedbank visit for the council presentation, Mr Bell told us: "I asked in relation to development viability and how the LUC Consultants would deal with housing market considerations which flows through to recommendations in relation to house types, densities and net developable areas. They indicated that a ‘marketing study’ was underway but this was a separate exercise being undertaken by a different department of the Council".

He added: "We will be preparing a response to SBC which records our disappointment at nothing being available to comment on in terms of any proposals, the lack of an approach that deals with infrastructure requirements, phasing and viability and some of the environmental considerations."  

It had been disappointing that the material displayed was in effect a summary of objectives for the exercise in relation to the preparation of the SPG drawn from the Brief that had been given to the Consultants.

However, Mr Bell was able to comment on one issue which emerged during his discissions with planning officers. He said: "They seemed quite clear that there would need to be a new road link accessing the west of the site from Tweedbank and that this would be over the railway.  This seems a relatively new matter as I recall it was a tentative suggestion in the earlier Proctor Matthews report which only seemed to show a footbridge at this location.  This would be a major bit of infrastructure with environmental impact and which would be of significant cost."

It has also been revealed that Mr Bell circulated a letter relating to Lowood in late June which included the claims that the planning process could be fundamentally flawed. 

The correspondence was sent to Ian Aikman, SBC's head of planning, with copies also going to council leader Shona Haslam, MSPs Christine Grahame and Michelle Ballantyne, MP John Lamont, and the three councillors for Leaderdale & Melrose - Kevin Drum, Tom Miers and David Parker.

Mr Bell explained that Middlemede had instructed him to 'review' the briefing document given to LUC by the council.

He wrote: "In conducting that review, I particularly noted the advice in the fourth paragraph of the introduction section of the Brief that ‘developed areas’ within the site have to be identified and a phasing arrangement proposed. 

"The implication of that advice is that the scale of the development that needs to come forward on the site to make it commercially viable has been fixed. It was surprising to read, therefore, at the end of section two of the Brief that the consultants have been advised by the council “that although the indicative site capacity for housing is 300 units, it is likely the overall site can satisfactorily accommodate an increased number…This, in my view, simply highlights and reinforces the issues with the council’s approach to development of the site that (consultants) JLL identified in their March 2018 report.

"Put simply, until such time as the council decides what scale of housing and mixed use on the site is commercially viable, it cannot begin to properly plan the net development areas. For example, a viability appraisal may conclude that 450 housing units might need to come forward on the site to make it commercially viable in the local housing market. 

"Ahead of arriving at this fixed figure, a detailed assessment would have been required to be carried out to establish the estimate cost associated with the delivery of the required level of supporting infrastructure including access road, education, healthcare, waste water drainage, etc. As things stand at the moment however it is apparent from the terms of the Brief that this fundamental piece of information is missing."

And Mr Bell concludes: "In my view, the process of developing the SPG cannot be properly started until this viability issue is being satisfactorily addressed. If it is not, then the legal advice that MPL has obtained is that the process of preparing detailed planning guidance that the council has embarked on is fundamentally flawed thereby rendering any future decision on the part of the council to adopt the SPG based on this current approach open to challenge in the courts.

"I should be grateful if you can confirm as a matter of urgency how the council proposes to address the viability issue at this stage in the planning process."

Mr Lamont and Mrs Ballantyne - both Conservatives - have not yet commented publicly on the controversial purchase of Lowood by the Tory-led Borders council. Meanwhile Ms Grahame has expressed concerns over the transaction and is currently attempting to uncover further information, including the District Valuer's Lowood valuation.

Display boards at the Tweedbank event proclaimed: "The site is located within the heart of the Scottish Borders where there is a recognised housing market interest and demand.

"The SPG must strike a balance between ensuring a high quality development whilst ensuring protection and enhancement of the landscape biodiversity and any potential impacts on the River Tweed".

The SPG will be subject to a 12-week public consultation which will include a further drop in session in Tweedbank village.