Agenda item

Consider report by Executive Director, Corporate Improvement & Economy.  (Copy attached.)

9.1       With reference to paragraph 7 of the Minute of 30 January 2020, there had been circulated copies of a report by the Executive Director Corporate Improvement and Economy seeking approval of Supplementary Planning Guidance for the future development of Tweedbank.  The report explained that a 34ha site was allocated within the Council’s adopted Local Development Plan (LDP) 2016 to the north of Tweedbank for mixed use development which included housing and business uses.  The site was incorporated into the LDP as part of Supplementary Guidance (SG) on Housing, as required by the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division of the Scottish Government following Examination of the LDP.  The Housing SG was approved by the Council and was cleared by Scottish Ministers in November 2017.  The LDP stipulated the requirement for Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) to be provided for the site.  The purpose of the SPG was to set out the Council’s vision for the site and give greater clarity on measures to achieve a high quality development.  This included identifying site constraints to be addressed, the identification of zones for specific uses, indicative housing densities for the residential zones, a possible area for a care home facility, placemaking and design guidance and a pre-application checklist.  A draft version of the SPG was approved by the Council in January 2020 as the basis for consultation.  A 12 week public consultation followed thereafter which included a public exhibition in the Tweedbank Community Centre.  All representations received during the consultation period were summarised in Appendix B to the report along with Officer responses to the representations submitted.  The Appendix also confirmed changes to the SPG proposed by Officers in response to the representations received and the consequent amended version of the SPG was contained in in Appendix A to the report.  Although the Draft SPG incorporated a section on placemaking and design it was considered this should be expanded upon.  Consequently a Design Guide had been prepared which gave more detailed advice along with good practice examples and references other related material considerations.   The Guide would help ensure a high quality sustainable development which was sensitively designed within the attractive landscape setting of the site and met the Council aspirations for a high quality community for the future.  The Design Guide was contained in Appendix C to the report.

9.2       In considering the purchase of Lowood Estate, Council had been agreed that all future strategic decisions relating to the Estate would be considered by Council.  Consequently the final approval of the SPG / Design Guide required to be made by Council.  At the meeting of the Council in January 2020 it was agreed that at the conclusion of the consultation period all consultation responses and any proposed consequential amendments to the Draft SPG would be reported initially to the Planning and Building Standards Committee for their review and comment.  Thereafter the SPG and any comments from the Planning & Building Standards Committee would be reported to the Council.  The SPG and associated Design Guide were presented to the Planning and Building Standards Committee on 31 May 2021.  A summary of the comments made by Members was included within the table in Appendix D to the report.  No changes were required to be made to the document following the Committee meeting.  Once approved by Council, the SPG and the Design Guide would be significant material considerations in guiding planning applications for the development of the site.  A number of decisions had been taken by the Council in respect of the purchase of the Lowood Estate and the terms of the Full Business Case for the Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region City Deal, which allowed draw down of £15m of funding for the Central Borders Innovation Park had an interrelationship with the proposed SPG.  However, this report solely focussed on the Planning Guidance that would help shape development on the site and ensure that it became an integral part of Tweedbank.  Further reports on the Development and Marketing Strategy would be forthcoming later in the year.

9.3       Members discussed the report in detail and highlighted the importance of the new development being an integral part of Tweedbank and the need to provide good community facilities.  Officers were reminded that they had to manage any possible conflict between their roles as advisers on planning and as owners of the land.  Mr Dickson answered Members’ questions and confirmed that there would be a further report on development and marketing which it was hoped would be presented in September and a briefing for Councillors before then.  Members generally welcomed the proposals.

DECISION

AGREED to:-

(a)     note the officer responses to the representations received and the consequent proposed amendments to the SPG, as detailed in Appendix B to the report, and the comments made by Members during briefings and the Planning and Building Standards Committee, contained in Appendix D to the report;

(b)     approve the Supplementary Planning Guidance, contained in Appendix A to report; and

(c)     approve the Design Guide, contained in Appendix C to the report.