Campaigners seeking to halt plans to turn two quite Lossiemouth cul-de-sacs into main arteries for a new housing estate have welcomed support from their community councillors.
Stop the B.A.D. access group have objected to proposals that a new 278-home estate should be linked to Boyd Anderson Drive through Halliman Way and Fisher Place.
While group members say they are in favour of the new homes being built they maintain that access through the two cul-de-sacs should be available for pedestrian or cycle traffic only, leaving motorists to access the estate via new roads connecting the A941 Lossiemouth/Elgin route to the east and the B9135 route to the west.
When the area to the south of Boyd Anderson Drive was designated for housing in the Moray Local Plan there was no mention of access via Halliman Way and Fisher Place – however, this was later added with council officials insisting that it was a requirement of Scottish Government ‘Designing Streets’ guidance.
[box] “The group welcome the views of the Community Council who are part of the community consultation process. It is a major step and we hope the Moray Council take heed.”[/box] That has been dismissed by the group who have learned that the Scottish Government guidance was advisory and did not impose any duty on local authorities.
Now the group has welcomed a submission from the Lossiemouth Community Council to the planning application that calls on rejection of vehicle access via Boyd Anderson Drive.
The action group’s spokeswoman Gillian Priestley said: “The group welcome the views of the Community Council who are part of the community consultation process. It is a major step and we hope the Moray Council take heed.”
In their objection to the planning application the community council said: “It is the view of Lossiemouth Community Council that access to the housing scheme via Fisher Place and Halliman Way would better serve the community and the guidance in ‘Designing Streets’ if it was restricted to pedestrian and cycle access.
“Vehicular access is, in the view of the community council, best served through the original plan of new road links to the B9135 on the west side and A941 on the east.
“The planning application acknowledges a link to the A941 as a ‘future requirement’, it is the view of the community council that this should be a requirement from the outset.”
Local resident John Hamilton also welcomed the Community Council support, saying: “We agree with the view of the Community Council that it would be more in keeping with the aims of Designing Streets.
“The Moray Council would seem to have breached the Scottish Government’s Designing Streets Policy, ‘Street User Hierarchy’ of pedestrians first and motor vehicles last.
“It is all about a cheap short term solution to a development where the applicant does not own the land to comply with the local plans current and future. This is not in the best interests of Lossiemouth or how to conduct planning.”
Anyone wishing to comment on the planning proposals can do so via this online link.