Agenda reports pack
Argyll and Bute Council · 13 October 2025
Back to Argyll and Bute Local Review Body — 13 October 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Argyll and Bute Council Comhairle Earra-Ghàidheal Agus Bhòid Executive Director: Douglas Hendry Kilmory, Lochgilphead, PA31 8RT Tel: 01546 605522 DX 599700 LOCHGILPHEAD 6 October 2024 NOTICE OF MEETING A meeting of the ARGYLL AND BUTE LOCAL REVIEW BODY will be held BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on MONDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2025 at 4:00 PM, which you are requested to attend. Douglas Hendry Executive Director BUSINESS 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST 3. CONSIDER NOTICE OF REVIEW REQUEST: LAND SOUTH OF FERNBANK, RAHANE (REF: 25/0006/LRB) (a) Further written information from Roads Officer (Pages 3 - 8) (b) Comments from Applicant (Pages 9 - 10) Argyll and Bute Local Review Body Councillor John Armour Councillor Gordon Blair (Chair) Councillor Peter Wallace Contact: Fiona McCallum Tel: 01546 604392 Public Document Pack
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Classification: OFFICIAL ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL ROADS RESPONSE LOCAL REVIEW BOARD REFERENCE NUMBER 25/0006/LRB PLANNING APPLICATION REFERENCE NUMBER 24/01389/PP LOCATION: Land South Of Fernbank Rahane Roads Response 2 September 2025 Page 3 Agenda Item 3a
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Roads Review – 25/0006/LRB – Erection of dwellinghouse and detached double garage– September 2025 (rev 0) Classification: OFFICIAL Document history This document has been issued and amended as follows: Version Date Description Created by 0 15/09/2025 Roads Response R.Kane Page 4
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Roads Review – 25/0006/LRB – Erection of dwellinghouse and detached double garage– September 2025 (rev 0) Classification: OFFICIAL Contents 1. Overview 1 2. Roads Response to Appeal Comments 2 Page 5
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Roads Review – 25/0006/LRB – Erection of dwellinghouse and detached double garage– September 2025 (rev 0) Classification: OFFICIAL 1. Overview This document provides a detailed Roads response to the AB7 from presented in conjunction with: Planning permission for the erection of dwellinghouse and detached double garage, installation of sewage treatment plant and formation of vehicular access, land south of Fernbank, Rahane, Argyll and Bute (LPA Reference 24/01389/PP) Page 6
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Roads Review – 25/0006/LRB – Erection of dwellinghouse and detached double garage– September 2025 (rev 0) Classification: OFFICIAL 2. Roads Response Information Required: Referring to the planning history of Ach-Na-Cloich Lodge, to review guidance provided to similarly located developments on this stretch of road which allowed developments to commence, with appropriate conditions ensuring road safety was not compromised. Argyll and But Roads Response Roads are being asked to draw similarities with a neighbouring development that obtained approval in 2011, some 14 years ago. In this time we have seen numerous changes to roads design and safety guidance, some of which include: • Scots – National Roads Development Guide (2017) • Transport Scotland – Roads for All (2013) • Argyll & Bute Roads Technical Guidance (2024) Furthermore, as detailed previously, both urban and rural communities have seen a significant increase in both vehicle ownership and use of the carriageway since 2010. A review of Transport Scotland statistics outlines that the number of motor vehicles licensed in Scotland in 2010 was 2.7 million. In contrast, there were 3.13 million vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Scotland in 2023 (the highest number on record) and a 16% increase since the planning application referenced above. It should be noted however that in the above application/ permission for development was conditioned with the same visibility splay requirements of 75m in both directions. Roads did not condition an absence from this requirement and therefore expected the condition to be delivered. It can therefore be acknowledged that whilst undertaken 14 years previous, the Roads assessment and response is consistent, with due recognition for the location and the associated Health and Safety concerns that demand the full visibility splay be achieved. Whilst the applicant/ agent details improvement to the existing accesses of neighbouring properties, such as Ach-Na-Cloich, it should be noted that: • The proposed development does not achieve the minimum visibility requirements required for a new access. • The neighbouring property, some 14 years previously was approved on the condition that the very same visibility splay requirements be achieved. • It is a failure of the Planning and monitoring process that the neighbouring property did not delivery the access required, this is not justification for ignoring the consistent Roads assessment for the creation of a new access at this location, and the associated Health and Safety factors. Finally, I would reiterate a point raised within my previous response, that being that whilst Road Safety Statistics detail that between 2014 and 2023 the recorded number of roads related casualties has reduced from 194,477 in 2014 to 132,977in 2023, some 32%,. These are not as a result of local Authorities accepting lesser standards from developers. Contrary, they are as a result of improved Roads knowledge and design guidance that demands higher standards and safer roads, not by accepting (further) below standard accesses. Page 7
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25/0006/LRB Re: Roads’ AB7 Response 26th September 2025 This document comments on the response from Argyll and Bute Roads Department to the request for further information regarding Local Review Board case 25/0006/LRB and planning application 24/01389/PP. The information presented by Argyll & Bute Roads is used to imply that strict application of standards is the cause of a reduction in roads-related casualties. Presumably this is to justify the refusal to consider any departures from standard. However, no data is presented on adherence to standards over the period 2014 to 2023, and correlation is not proof of causation. Indeed, there have been a number of departures from standard that would have been included in the underlying dataset, contradicting the claim that the reduction in casualties could not have happened by allowing any such departures from standard. Additionally, the statistics cover the whole of Scotland and do not consider the merits of this particular case. The specific visual obstruction in question has had no real-world effect on safety over the last 25 years. In terms of risk assessment, actual data refutes the theoretical risk implied by failing to meet the standard on paper. As such, and considering the overall visibility/safety improvements that would accrue, a minor departure from standard is proposed with the following conditions: Visibility splay to the south of the proposed new access measuring 75 x 2 x 1.05 metres Visibility splay to the north of the proposed new access measuring 40 x 2 x 1.05 metres If further mitigation is considered necessary, the applicants are amenable to funding signage or road markings that would enhance road-user awareness. The roads design guidance allows for departures from standards specifically because the limitations of standards when applied to the real world are understood. Thus, the proposed access would be non-standard, it would not be sub- standard. Additionally, visibility would be improved for the accesses to: Ach-Na-Cloich Cottage - from 0 m to at least 60 m (north) The electricity sub-station - from 0 m to at least 60 m (north) Mambeg Farm - from 0 m to 75 m (south) and 0 m to at least 55 m (north) Ach-Na-Cloich - achieving the original 75 m condition (north) Ach-Na-Cloich Lodge - achieving the original 75 m condition (north) Fernbank Rosnevyth This would achieve a higher standard for all of these accesses and make the road significantly safer than it currently is. Page of 11 Page 9 Agenda Item 3b
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