A council officer has criticised a proposal to site 116 solar panels on an agricultural field five miles from Perth city centre.
Dupplin Trust 2000 has applied to install a ground-mounted solar array of two rows of 58 panels on grazing land.
The 3m-high panels would be sited on grazing land 220 metres south-west of Dupplin Castle, near Aberdalgie.
The application says the array has a generating capacity of 58kW.
This would enable Dupplin Estate to create its own energy.
But Perth and Kinross Council conservation officer Dianmae Barbary believes the proposal has flaws.
She wrote in her consultation response: “The proposed solar array is likely to present a visual intrusion in the wider setting, being potentially intervisible with the listed buildings to the north, notable landscape features such as the roundel to the west, and the driveway access from South Lodge.”
However, she added: “The existing mature trees and hedge planting will provide a degree of mitigation, and the proposal is reversible, with no associated hard landscaping.”
The applicant says the site is naturally screened by mature trees east and south of the site, and the topography would obscure the solar array from the south and west.
Council planners will decide the application.
Tibbermore flooding ‘fix’ slammed as officers call for refusal of battery scheme
An English firm that wants to build a battery storage plant at the site of an historic battleground has provoked further ire from residents.
In May 2024, Salford-based YLEM Energy applied to site 24 battery storage container units at Tibbermore, five miles west of Perth city centre.
This would be built on land 260 south-west of Taigh An Struith, the site of the Battle of Tippermuir in 1644.
The Burghmuir Battery Storage scheme would also be established near Tibbermore Church and the Gloagburn Farm Shop.
It has sparked 20 objections.
The application is going to the council’s planning and placemaking committee on Wednesday March 12.
At this meeting, Perth and Kinross councillors will decide whether to follow the officer recommendation to refuse the scheme.
But even before the decision, a further application has been submitted for three excavated ‘compensatory flood water storage areas’ on 3.3 acres of land adjacent to the proposed battery storage area.
YLEM spinoff Root-Power says this will address flooding concerns associated with the battery scheme.
It also claims a metal-detecting survey found no historical remains linked to the battle on the site.
But the new proposal has drawn eight objections.
These highlight concerns over noise pollution, visual intrusion and a failure to address flooding fears.
Objector Gordon McGovern wrote: “It represents nothing more than a knee-jerk and totally inadequate ‘fix’ response from the developer in relation to the objections raised to the original planning application.”
Bedsits plan for former Perth city centre nightclub
A former nightclub in Perth city centre could be converted into eight bedsits.
Forty Four Bar and Late Lounge on 44 Atholl Street shut in July 2023.
Now applicant Derek Petterson, of PGC Group, says the ground-floor unit could be turned into housing.
His supporting statement said: “The ground-floor layout plan follows a natural split between each apartment and includes three new window openings to the east wall and four new rooflights to the west boundary.
“There is no proposed communal area, only a shared entrance foyer and circulation corridor, all immediately accessed from Atholl Street.
“The front façade is to be restored to its original state, allowing the windows to line through with the neighbouring upper-floor apartment openings.”
Consultation on the proposal ends on March 25.
Dunkeld hotel given ‘extension’
A Dunkeld short-term let managed by the Taybank Hotel has been granted retrospective planning permission for change of use.
The two-bedroom flat in a listed building on Dunkeld’s Brae Street accepted for approval as a holiday let by councillors.
The application received six objections. Concerns included noise, a high over-provision of short-term lets and second homes in the area and parking.
Members of Perth and Kinross Council’s Planning and Placemaking Committee asked the hotel’s owner Fraser Potter why the flats were so important to the hotel.
She replied: “On a quiet night, having that extra four people really does help. It also brings a different crowd.
“We might be able to have a family stay. It’s the only two-bed accommodation we have available.”
Taybank Hotel has eight bedrooms.
It says the flat is “simply an extension of our hotel rooms”.
City centre hotel caravans may remain
The owner of the Station Hotel in Perth city centre has applied to retain four mobile homes on its land for a longer duration.
Radisson Blu says the caravans are required temporarily for staff during renovation works.
A supporting statement said: “The Station Hotel is undergoing a programme of refurbishment to provide an enhanced number and quality of rooms available to guests.”
In September 2022, the hotel reopened after a £2 million project to improve guest rooms and public areas in the landmark Leonard Street property.
In July 2023, the council granted a two-year temporary permission for the makeshift properties to be sited in its courtyard.
Radisson has now applied to extend this time limit.
The hotel has been accommodating asylum seekers since late 2022.
Here are the links to the planning/appeal papers for the Perth and Kinross applications
Conversation