Housing developer appeal seeks to persuade councillors to overturn Monkton refusal

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An appeal against the refusal of a Monkton housing development will be heard by councillors this week.The application for 14 homes at land adjacent to Brierside Farm was refused by planning officers under delegated powers.The developer had argued that, as the site of former Adamton corn mill, the land should be treated as a brownfield site.They had provided a map from 1858 as evidence, but had failed to say when it had ceased operations.Monkton Community Council had objected to the proposal, saying it was not an allocated development site, there was no shortfall of housing in the area and suggest there was a flood risk.Refusing the application last November, planners said that the site was outside the Monkton settlement area and the applicant did not provide evidence that the benefit to the community or economy or need for homes outweighed this.Planners also said that the application did not provide sufficient information around the flood risk.Edesign Architecture & Planning Scotland, representing the applicant, Stuart Leith, said they had provided relevant points that had not been suitably addressed by planners.They reiterated the argument around the historic use for corn mills, stating: “The current site is a brownfield site with existing structures both partially exposed and larger areas of structure concealed by heavy overgrowth, the development is therefore rehabilitating a brownfield former working site.”They added that other developments in the area had been approved and argued that there is a need for housing, citing the investment in Prestwick space hub, which aims to created almost 600 new jobs.This investment, and the increase in housing outwith cities was growing, meant that the existing settlement boundary