Officers had recommended refusal because there was not a compelling need for the development to be located in the countryside. The committee however attached considerable weight to the economic benefits to the rural economy which will be realised from this expansion of a local business wishing to remain within the Stirling area and stated that the council should try to support such ventures where possible.
The applicant specialised in sourcing and supplying a range of new and reclaimed natural stone for building and landscaping. The proposal was to create a prestige facility for the cutting and dressing of natural stone along with an interpretation centre and showroom.
The company acknowledged the difficulty in terms of the development plan but pointed to recent consents nearby, including a garden centre, a travellers’ site and the Prudential campus. Those developments had, the company argued, compromised the countryside characteristics of the local area.
However, officers considered that the most appropriate location for the development was within an employment site as it was an industrial use. The Prudential office was a strategic development and a major local employer. The garden centre site was a former army training camp and, therefore, brownfield land and the traveller’s site had been established by the government close to the adjacent trunk road. In addition, the development was incompatible with the travellers’ site and could have unacceptable noise and traffic impacts upon it. SEPA advised that the proposal to raise the site and excavate a large area of functional floodplain was not sustainable and could increase flood risk.
The company also made a separate application for offices partly for use as an administration base by the company and partly to let to suitable tenants such as architects, designers and engineers, to encourage a centre of excellence promoting quality of construction. That too was recommended for refusal as it was not necessary to locate the development in the countryside, it could set an undesirable precedent and was in an area of flood risk.
Proposal: Stone working facility and visitors’ interpretation centre
Site: Land north east and south of travelling people’s site
Authority: Stirling
Applicant: Tradstocks Ltd
Decision: Approved 14 June 2011
Reference: 09/00160/PP
