Developers whose plans to form a new slip road and junction on the A9 near Auchterarder were thwarted by the local authority last year have appealed to the Scottish Government to overturn the decision.
Perth and Kinross Council’s planning committee backed a recommendation from officials last November to refuse a joint application from Muir Homes and Stewart Milne Homes to make the changes at Shinafoot over concerns about road safety and traffic congestion.
The committee was told the duo’s application to form a southbound off-slip road onto the A9 only and not provide a separate southbound on-slip road through the same proposal was “unacceptable” as this did not meet a legal agreement made over a decade ago.
Developers previously signed a S75 agreement with the local authority stating they would provide both off and on-slip roads as part of their historic permission to build hundreds of new houses in Auchterarder.
The new junction was required by Scottish Ministers to address long-standing road safety concerns on the A9 near Auchterarder and a cap was placed on the number of new houses the developers could build until the new junction was formed.
Last year the council said in a report of handling the single slip design put forward by Muir Homes and Stewart Milne Homes would have a detrimental impact on the local road network in Auchterarder compared to the full set of road improvements previously agreed.
It added modelling of the single slip design had shown “an increase to both journey times for vehicles travelling from central Auchterarder south bound on the A9 and to the number of vehicle movements through Auchterarder.”
Now both developers have appealed the refusal telling the government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) they want a hearing session arranged so they can scrutinise the model the council used to calculate the alleged increase in traffic.
They allege in their submission that requests to meet council officials to discuss the figures to date as well as suggested mitigation measures “have been ignored” and claim a hearing session “is essential to enable proper interrogation of the council’s position”.
“In the event that the appeal is refused, the Scottish Ministers’ long-standing strategy for addressing road safety concerns on the A9 at Auchterarder via a new junction at Shinafoot will be delayed, if not defeated, and no further development will be able to take place in Auchterarder,” their joint statement of appeal says.
“This will have implications for the council’s ability to comply with the aims and objectives of National Planning Framework 4 for the Perth and Kinross area (and the delivery of new homes in particular) and the preparation of the council’s next Local Development Plan given the cap on the amount of development which can take place without the Shinafoot junction being in place.
“As this statement shows, it would appear that the council is risking both the safety of people accessing Auchterarder from the A9 and the future economic growth of the area because they are unhappy with the Scottish Ministers’ requirement for a new grade separated junction at Shinafoot.
“It would further appear that the council would prefer the new junction to be located at Aberuthven and have refused the appellants’ application to try to derail the Shinafoot junction.
“Cessation of the appellants’ housing development, and the restriction on other developments in Auchterarder and the wider area, is the collateral damage from the ongoing disagreement about the location for the new junction.
“Having regard to the evidence in support of the appeal, the reporter is respectfully invited to overturn the council’s reasons for refusal of the appellants’ application and allow the proposed junction at Shinafoot to be constructed without further delay.”
The DPEA’s website says the appeal is currently being checked and registered in their system and further documents will be uploaded “as soon as possible”.
