Unst home given green light by councillors after SEPA flooding objection
COUNCILLORS have overturned a decision by council planners to refuse a housing application in Unst due to flooding concerns.
A planning application to rebuild the derelict Snarravoe House in Uyeasound into a new dwellinghouse was turned down by council planners earlier this year, on the grounds that there was a risk of flooding.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) objected to the application on the same grounds, saying there was a 5-10 per cent risk that the property would flood every year.
Planning manager Iain McDiarmid said this “severe” risk had resulted in the council deciding to turn the application down, with another local couple also objecting.
However councillors on the planning committee were not convinced by the arguments, and were instead persuaded by the mitigation measures the homeowner is putting in place against flooding.
There was also confusion among elected members about how this property could be refused on flooding grounds, when five other properties were already in the area.
Homeowner Ian Tomlinson had applied for permission to rebuild and extend the ruins of Snarravoe House in order to create a new two bedroom house last year.
The council however refused the application earlier this year, saying it had not been demonstrated that the conversion “can be made safe from flooding over the lifetime of the development”.
“The site is located within an area at risk of flooding, and the development would introduce a vulnerable residential use where occupants could be exposed to flood risk,” it said.
“While mitigation measures have been proposed, these rely on internal arrangements and management practices which cannot be secured or enforced through planning conditions.
“As such, the proposal would place people and property at unacceptable risk and is contrary to the precautionary approach to flood risk.”
SEPA had objected on the basis that the development “would not be considered to be safe from flooding”, while another couple in Uyeasound also objected to the application.
They said there was a record of flooding in the area during heavy rainfall, and said they were worried about flooding of their own property and grounds as a result of the Snarravoe work.
They also said they were concerned the home was possibly set to be used as a “writers retreat” rather than a permanent residence, saying this could result in increased noise and disruption to the neighbourhood.
In other correspondence, they said the Snarravoe development was “causing us no end of stress” and “sleepless nights”.
An appeal was lodged by the applicant after the council’s refusal, leading to it being brought before the council’s planning committee on Thursday.
Ian Irvine from PJP Architects, representing Tomlinson, spoke in favour of the application at the meeting and said there were a range of mitigation measures being planned against flooding.
He said potential flooding was “the homeowner’s responsibility, not the council’s”, and said the development “would benefit Uyeasound and the wider community”.
Irvine added that the council had not been required to consult SEPA, and said they had been “confused” by the decision to refuse the application.
Under questioning from councillor Mark Robinson, Irvine said he was “confident” the property would stand up to any potential flooding.
Planning manager McDiarmid said that Shetland Islands Council had consulted SEPA because planners had concerns about flooding themselves, which SEPA’s data had backed up.
In debate, Robinson said that none of the other five properties near to Snarravoe would have had to provide such detailed flooding mitigation before being approved.
He said it was ironic then that Snarravoe had provided all of this, but had still been refused.
The Shetland West councillor proposed that the council approve the planning application, which was seconded by Davie Sandison.
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