National Park issues warning over unlawful works on rural sites

dailyrecord.co.uk:

National Park planning chiefs have warned against people buying plots of land that they may be unaware are not suitable for development.The warning comes as the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority takes planning enforcement action to investigate unauthorised development activity within the park.Planning Contravention Notices have been issued requiring detailed information on unauthorised works carried out on land between Stroneslaney Road and the River Balvag near Balquhidder.Unauthorised engineering works have been carried out there, including significant re-profiling of the land and works to create a vehicle access and track, with no planning permission sought or granted for the work.Separately, six plots at the same site are being marketed for sale at auction.

The plots are in an area deemed at risk of flooding and any development would be unlikely to receive approval for planning permission.The National Park says the latest incident is just one of a number of recent instances where land in desirable locations is advertised for sale, promoting the area’s amenities and location, without any reference to the requirement for planning permission or the planning constraints that are very likely to make the land unsuitable for development.Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.Stuart Mearns, director of place at the National Park Authority said: “Any development work within the National Park requires planning permission.

Unfortunately what we are seeing is plots of land being sold to people who are not fully aware of these constraints and are left deeply disappointed when they cannot, for example, use the plot to build a new home, a holiday home, park motorhomes or put up a small storage