OUTLINE plans to build a new house on green belt land outside Port Glasgow have been lodged with council bosses.
Applicants Mr and Mrs P. and K. Crighton are seeking ‘planning permission in principle’ to build the new single-storey home on land at Valleyview House on Dougliehill Road.
The site, some 450 metres by road from the boundary of Port Glasgow, was formerly part of the Dougliehill water treatment works and, until around 2011, was used for a poultry enterprise, while a three-storey dwelling house already occupies part of the land.
The applicants’ agents, Glasgow-based firm Derek Scott Planning, state that while the land is part of the green belt, the site itself should be regarded as ‘brownfield’.
A supporting statement lodged with the formal application says: “The application site is located within the Green Belt, as defined in the Inverclyde Local Development Plan 2019, where there is a general presumption against most types of development, albeit with a number of exceptions.
“Notwithstanding the site’s location within that said Green Belt, we are of the view that planning permission in principle should be granted for the proposal.
“The site is a previously developed brownfield site, the development of which, through the erection of the dwelling house proposed and associated complementary landscaping has the potential to result in a significant improvement to the character and appearance of the area.”
The agents say that the site, 960 metres from the nearest bus stop, on Muirdykes Avenue, is “within easy walking distance of public transport services”.
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Planning permission in principle for a house on the site was refused by Inverclyde Council officials in October 2021, a decision upheld by the authority’s Local Review Body in February of the following year.
Retrospective permission to use land at the front of the site for a dog run and exercise business was granted in September this year, though the agents say that business would cease to operate upon construction of the house if permission is granted.
The application, and accompanying paperwork, can be viewed at planning.inverclyde.gov.uk by searching for the application reference code 24/0246/IC.
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