The housebuilders who were hoping to develop a site on Perth’s Kinnoull Hill have described the council’s planning policies as “out of date” after the proposal was rejected.
CALA claim the decision put “dusty tomes of policy” before jobs, investment and the wider public interest.
The application to build 19 luxury homes on the land belonging to St Mary’s Monastery evenly split the council’s development control committee when it met on Wednesday, with only the casting vote of committee convener, Councillor Willie Wilson, leading to it being thrown out.
Unlike most planning applications the appeals to the committee had an emotional edge with speaker after speaker telling councillors that the very future of the monastery depended on the money which would be generated by the sale of the field.
Opponents of the scheme who did not wish to see any more of Kinnoull disappear under development warned that emotion should play no part in the planning process.
Some councillors were won over by the argument that the economic, social and cultural benefits of helping the monastery to survive outweighed losing the green space.
Father Gerry Mulligan of the monastery said it was with “deep sorrow” that he heard that they had not secured permission to develop the field and the financial boost it would bring, saying they now faced an “immediate and fundamental crisis” in the future operation of St Mary’s Monastery.
CALA has yet to decide what to do in response to this latest setback but they did not hold back on their criticism of the decision.
“Perth’s out-of-date local plan and planning policies do not reflect aspirations to make Perth a modern and vibrant city,” said Derek Lawson, strategic land director of CALA.
“More importantly, they are acting against the wider interest of the local community.
“We find it hard to understand why dusty tomes of policy are more important than jobs and substantial investment into one of Scotland’s finest remaining monasteries.”
Among those to argue the case for the housing application was Scotland’s leading Catholic figurehead, Cardinal Keith O’Brien.
The archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh wrote to Provost John Hulbert prior to Wednesday’s council meeting saying the B-listed monastery building required significant investment if it was to remain fit for purpose.
Councillors heard at the meeting that although £1.2 million had been spent on the exterior, many millions were needed to bring the interior up to modern standards.
The monastery hosts conferences and is a retreat for people, including those struggling with addiction.