Scottish Borders Council

Agenda item

Access Rights to the George Meikle Kemp Memorial, Moy Hall

Consider report by the Service Director Assets and Infrastructure on the access rights to the George Meikle Kemp Memorial at Moy Hall seeking approval to change the access rights subject to a preferred route being agreed for a new general use path from Peebles to Eddleston.  (Copy attached.)

 

Minutes:

With reference to paragraph 8 of the Private Minute of Meeting of 2 March 2016, there had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Assets and Infrastructure on the access rights to the George Meikle Kemp Memorial at Moy Hall seeking approval to change the access rights subject to a preferred route being agreed for a new general use path from Peebles to Eddleston. George Meikle Kemp was the designer of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh.  Peebles Town Council acquired the Kemp Memorial with access rights from the A703 at Moy Hall in 1935.  The neighbouring farmer was seeking planning permission for a new house and proposed to change the access route to the Kemp Memorial.   The formal consent of the Peebles Common Good Sub-Committee was required to change the access rights to the Kemp Memorial and a condition of this change of access could be that the new cycle track was routed through the grass field instead of along the edge of the A703.   Mr Jeremy Cunningham, Sustrans and Mr Stewart Anderson, representing the neighbouring farmer  were in attendance.   Mr Anderson advised he had discussed the report by the Service Director of Assets and Infrastructure with his clients James and Kenneth Watson.  He advised that his clients were not opposed to the proposed Sustrans path and had said from the outset that, where they were able, they would make land available to improve the route and its safety.  It was helpful  to see the plans for Options 1 and 2 as detailed in the report.     Option 1, the ideal route, was unfortunately not possible because the path passing on the west side of Moy Hall would have too great an impact on the amenity of that house. If Option 1 was  all that would satisfy the Sub-Committee and Sustrans then his  clients had  decided that they would prefer to withdraw their application for planning consent for the new house and the new road junction.  However, by way of compromise, his clients were able to offer Option 3 as detailed in his submission.  Mr Anderson explained this option gave Sustrans all that it was asking with the exception of the short section on the west side of Moy Hall and greatly improved the safety of the route.   Sustrans might even be able to negotiate further improvements with the proprietor of Moy Hall. In any event, and as noted on the plan in the Service Director’s report, safety at the pinch point could  be improved by widening of the pavement, raising kerbs, or possibly even by provision of a metal safety barrier. There was one further important point Mr Cunningham raised relating to road safety at Moy Hall and which had  not been mentioned in the Report regarding Access Rights to the George Meikle Kemp Memorial at Moy Hall.   A fundamental aspect of the current planning application that his clients had made for the new house and new road junction was that it would make a major improvement to road safety for access to and from Moy Hall.  The present access was constructed almost a century ago and, in view of the huge increase in road speeds, was now unsafe. It was steep, it met the A703 at an acute angle, and it had very limited visibility to the south. There had been a considerable number of accidents on this stretch of the A703 in past years and an improvement in safety at Moy Hall was much needed. The design for the new junction addressed all of these weaknesses and had the full support of Roads Planning at Scottish Borders Council.  Mr Cunningham asked if consideration of the matter could be deferred to a future meeting to allow for further negotiations to ascertain if they could arrive at a solution which satisfied all parties concerned.

 

DECISION

AGREED to continue  consideration of the matter to a future meeting of the Sub-Committee.

 

 

Supporting documents:

 

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