Demolition bid set to be ok’d
Council planners say a bid to demolish an old church hall in Perth in order to build new affordable housing ought to be approved despite locals sending them over two dozen objections.
The local authority has now received 26 separate objections to GS Brown Construction’s application to pull down the former Goodlyburn Gospel Hall with most of the representations raising concerns about the number of flats the company wants to create on the site the hall currently occupies.
The St Madoes-based builder wants to construct four three-storey blocks each containing a minimum of nine flats where the hall stands just now but residents reckon the proposal packs too many properties onto the site.
They also say some of the surrounding streets are already heavily congested at certain times of the day and the proposed development will only exacerbate this and furthermore finding a parking space will become even more problematic if the scheme goes ahead.
Commenting on the application the council’s transport planning team said parking provision in the area seemed to be “on the low side of what would be acceptable” but civil engineers working for GS Brown Construction have argued the 41 spaces the company has said will be provided as part of the proposal “more than comply” with requirements.
Goodlyburn Gospell Hall And according to a report to be put before the council’s planning committee next week, interim development quality manager Anne Condliffe is convinced once the proposed blocks are fully occupied fewer than a dozen new tenants will use their cars to get in and out of the area at peak times anyway.
Her report states: “In terms of trip generation for these affordable flats, the TRICS (trip rate information computer system) database was used as per standard practice and this showed that the proposal would generate a total of nine vehicle movements in the am peak and 11 vehicles in the pm peak.
“This is a very minimal increase in traffic and transport planning has confirmed the road network is capable of absorbing this increase in traffic.”
Concluding the application ought to be approved by the committee Ms Condliffe says elsewhere in her report: “The site is well contained and surrounded by the existing development which in turn will limit the visual impact.
“Whilst the scale of the buildings will be more noticeable from the existing properties which surround the site, this is considered acceptable.”
The committee will consider the application and Ms Condliffe’s report on Tuesday (December 18).