A renewed appeal for a church to build a place of worship has been unanimously rejected by Perth and Kinross councillors.
Perth Gospel Trust’s revised application to Perth and Kinross Council to build a church just off the A90 at West Kinfauns was refused in July 2021.
Following this latest refusal the brethren group once again appealed the refusal to PKC’s local review body.
In August 2020 the group’s planning appeal to PKC’s local review body - comprising three different councillors - was rejected by two votes to one primarily on the grounds of retaining green space.
Their renewed plans showed a repositioning of the hall “aligned with the building line of the adjacent dwelling houses, and the distance between the built development and the A90 is some 105 metres.”
Perth Gospel Trust’s appeal said only a “minor part” of the site was proposed for development with “81.4 per cent of the site now being maintained and landscaped.” The hall would accommodate up to 50 people.
The number of car parking spaces was reduced and bike storage facilities included.
But when the local review body met on November 9, to consider the revised plans councillors repeated the need to retain green space.
Planners refused the application on three grounds: the loss of green space and a landscape buffer between the A90 and Kinfauns, detracting from views from Kinnoull Hill and being “in a location where it would be dependent on access by private car.”
In their appeal Perth Gospel Trust - part of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church - argued against all three reasons for refusal.
Their appeal statement said: “The open space buffer between the A90 and West Kinfauns will be maintained.
“The view of the site from Kinnoull Hill is dominated by the built development of West Kinfauns on one side of the site and the A90 dual carriageway on the other side of the site.
“Should a park and ride facility be developed, it is contended that there will be adequate bus services in the future to allow different modes of transport to access the hall.
“However, in order to achieve everything that is possible at the moment, the proposal now incorporates four bicycle storage racks for any group member who wishes to cycle to the hall.”
The church said this site was chosen because it is close to where members live and “will enable group members to walk or cycle to the hall, as well as come by car.”
Cllr Willie Wilson agreed the site was “easily accessible” by bike but said the “crunch question” was whether or not allow development on a green space.
He acknowledged attempts by the church to move the building, reduce parking and maintain green space.
Cllr David Illingworth said he was torn and if the argument of it generating traffic was used for every development “nothing would ever get built.”
All three councillors agreed to reject the third reason given for refusal but upheld the first two reasons about maintaining green space and the visual impact.
