Planning permission to develop a house in Carluke has been approved despite strong recommendations to reject from officials.
The planning application for an eco-dwelling house being built in the area of Terr Holm in Braidwood was brought for consideration to the planning local review body committee on Monday.
The proposed development is on a green belt site and is therefore subject to debate and planning officers recommended that it be rejected due to the location.
A green belt area is a specifically designated area of countryside which is protected from most forms of development, therefore to build a dwelling on the site would go against the policies in place.
However, there has already been approval of buildings close to the site, which is also classed as a green belt area and councillors debated whether or not the development would be appropriate.
Councillor David Sheerer said: “I am sympathetic to a certain degree with this application, because I would deem it to be an extension to the village.
“I accept that it is in the green belt and the green belt rules are fairly strict - it is not overlooking anybody, there are no road issues which I was surprised at, but it is an extension to the existing line of properties and if it wasn’t for the green belt rules I think planning would have come to a different decision here.”
In relation to the existing houses near the proposed development which have received approval, Councillor Alex Allison said: “They’ve already got planning permission and we’re refusing ones right across the road, once again lacking common sense.
"And it’s not a green belt area it’s a delivery yard so I agree with David that it is not infringing at all – it’s in a built up area because of the houses built across the road, so I’d be inclined to grant.”
Councillor Jim Wardhaugh agreed, saying: “To the east across the road there’s consent for a housing development, that should change the settlement boundaries when that permission was given.
"Normally I’m quite hard line about green belt developments, this one seems to be hanging on the borderline. The consent to building across the road would effectively seem to have a bigger effect on green belt than this development.”
Planning officers recommended to refuse the application as it went against South Lanarkshire Local Development Plan policies – with the location being a green belt and rural area as a key cause for concern.
The green belt should be strictly controlled and any proposals should be in line with the policy, the policy states that the functions of the green belt is for agriculture, forestry, recreation and other uses appropriate to the countryside.
The planning documents, it states: “Development of this site would have a detrimental impact and would fail to protect and enhance the character, landscape setting and identity of the settlement.
“The proposed development is an inappropriate form of development within the green belt and would be detrimental to the character and landscape setting of this protected settlement edge.”
Councillor Graham Scott agreed with the planning officers.
He said: “It’s not directly across the road, it is diagonal.
"I’ll use the word consistency here - at the last planning committee, I spoke about a site in East Kilbride where actually the house was inside the village envelope, but where he wanted to put the house was in the green belt and the fact that part of his land was inside the village envelope was deemed not to be relevant and the planning application was refused, so the planning department is being consistent.
“So my view would be in the interest of consistency; what’s good for the goose is good for the gander – that gentleman’s case which will be appealed as he has some land in the village envelope.
"But this case is in the entirety of the green belt and not even part of his land is in the village envelope so if we go with consistency, we have to go with what the planning officer has deemed, and the green belt rules state that this should not get consent.”
Although the site does go against council and green belt policy, a total of five councillors voted in favour of the development on the grounds that it would be an extension to the village and would round off the community therefore there should be an exception to green belt rules.
Only three councillors voted to refuse the application.
The site is part of a larger area of grazing land owned by the applicant, the proposal will see the development of a two storey, split level dwelling on the footprint of the existing stable yard area located to the front of the existing stable buildings.
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