Planning permission for a residential caravan site in Clydesdale has been rejected by councillors.
At the Planning Committee meeting on June 6, elected members heard of plans to develop a site for 33 two-bedroom caravans on former tile works located between Carluke and Law.
However, the application received a whopping 132 objections and only 10 support letters.
As well as this, council officers recommended that councillors reject the application due to it not complying with aspects of the National Planning Framework 4 and policies within South Lanarkshire Local Development Plan 2.
Therefore, councillors ultimately refused planning permission for the development.
Objections from the public surrounded issues such as the site being too close to neighbouring properties, noise and the impact it could have on privacy.
Land use concerns were also raised, such as it being an inappropriate development for a green belt location and the need for housing should be met by traditional affordable housing and not caravans.
If approved, the new site would have provided permanent residential accommodation within the caravans, which would have two parking spaces and a garden at each unit.
Councillor David Shearer (Clydesdale West) questioned the use of the future use of the site, given the application was rejected, and said: “I’m not disputing or speaking for pros of cons of this application, however I would like to ask, this is an ex-tileworks that’s previously been used as a road haulage yard, so albeit that it is in the greenbelt, it is a brownfield site, so given that, we should be encouraging developments on a brownfield site in the greenbelt rather than purely greenfield sites. What do the planners suggest that would be appropriate on a site like this?”
Council officers confirmed that the South Lanarkshire Local Development Plan does look to promote developments such as urban regeneration, housing development in areas they are expected.
The proposed site is still a green belt area where natural vegetation could occur.
But there is flexibility within the South Lanarkshire policy which allows for business development, opportunities for recreation, tourism and farm diversification, however a residential proposal in the greenbelt contradicts the policy.
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