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There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair, Councillor Kieron Green, welcomed everyone to the meeting.Ìý He explained that no person present would be entitled to speak other than the Members of the Local Review Body (LRB) and Ms Ledsom, who would provide procedural advice if required.

Before proceeding further he invited Ms Ledsom to advise of a late letter of support received from Councillor Andrew Kain.

Ms Ledsom advised that on 20 August 2024 a letter of support was received from Councillor Kain.Ìý She further advised that Councillor Kain did not comment on the original planning application and, in terms of the Regulations, if the Members of the LRB wished to consider this correspondence as part of the LRB process it would have to be treated as new information with all interested parties being given the opportunity of commenting on it.

The Members of the LRB agreed to take this correspondence into the process.Ìý A discussion took place on whether or not Members of the LRB would require any further information at this time.

Both Councillor Armour and Councillor Brown advised that they did not wish any further information.

Councillor Green said he found this case interesting and some aspects intriguing in terms of the proposal put forward by the Applicant and the position of the Planning Officer in regard to this.Ìý He advised that he thought it would be helpful to ask the Applicant to provide information on the historical property they mentioned which was on or near to the proposed development site.Ìý He said this would allow the LRB to gain an understanding of the historical context of the site and how the proposed development compared to that historical building which had long since been demolished.

Councillor Green also advised that he would like a statement from the Design and Conservation Officer in terms of the characteristics and special qualities of the Tobermory Conservation Area.Ìý He pointed out that Tobermory Conservation area, unlike others elsewhere in Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æ and Bute, had no freely available information online about it.Ìý He said he would like some information in terms of what the particular characteristics of this Conservation Area were so that the LRB could assess these against this proposal.

Councillor Armour advised that they had been provided with a lot of photographs and that he had also explored google street view.Ìý He said he could not see what the problem was with this proposal.Ìý He referred to the proposed development not being in keeping with the height of the building on the other side of West Street and said that neither was the height of the current property.Ìý He advised that if it would help the LRB to come to a decision then he would be happy for this additional information referred to by Councillor Green to be requested.

Councillor Brown also advised that she could see no reason why this application had been refused.Ìý She said it was her view that the proposal was not offensive and would be pretty much in keeping with what was around it and far more attractive than other nearby buildings.Ìý She said she would support the request for further information.

Councillor Green noted the comments made by Councillors Armour and Brown.Ìý He reiterated that he would be interested to know more about the Conservation Area and if there were any particular features of the area which would conflict with this proposal.Ìý He said he had noted that it was mentioned in the paperwork that Tobermory had a grid iron layout of the roads.Ìý He said that he had looked at google maps and historical maps and advised that he could see some aspects of a grid iron layout but also delineation of development along other roads.Ìý He said that receiving this information would help the LRB to make the right decision.

He advised that giving the Applicant the opportunity to show the LRB where the location of the historical property was would also potentially give the LRB the context to perhaps support development on this site.

Councillor Green said that he had noted that the other Members had expressed their support for this development and sought and received confirmation from Ms Ledsom that if the Members wished they could ask the Planning Officer for appropriate conditions and reasons to attach to any consent in the event the Members were minded to approve this application.

Decision

The Members of the Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æ and Bute Local Review Body agreed:

1.     to take the late letter of support from Councillor Andrew Kain into the process and noted that all interested parties would be given the opportunity of commenting on this new information;

2.     to request from the Applicant further information on the historical building that was demolished, including its location, which they referred to as part of their submission, to enable the LRB to gain an understanding of the historical context of the site and how the proposed development compared to that historical building;

3.     to request from the Design and Conservation Officer a statement on the characteristics and special qualities of the Tobermory Conservation area so that the Members of the LRB could assess the proposal against these; and

4.     to request from the Planning Officer appropriate conditions and reasons to attach to any consent in the event the Members of the LRB were minded to approve this application.

(Reference: Notice of Review and Supporting Documentation, comments from interested parties, and comments from Applicant, submitted)