PLEASE HELP US STOP THIS PLANNING APPLICATION IN CALGARY BAY

A planning application has been lodged for a large 4-bedroom house near the pier on the north side of Calgary Bay as shown on the map below. The proposals cover both a Local Nature Conservation Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The best way to stop this wholly inappropriate development is for as many people as possible to lodge an objection with the Council.

Objections should focus on how the application is at odds with the Council’s Local Development Plan 2 (LDP2) as per the bullet points below.

Your objection, which should include some of these points, must be in your own words as multiple duplicate objections carry less weight. Numbers count so, please share this with others and encourage them to object too!

CONSIDERATIONS TO HELP YOU WRITE AN OBJECTION

Please include some of these considerations as part of your objection:

1. Council planning priorities: Recognise that the Council’s priorities are repopulation (particularly bringing young families to the island), affordable homes and wider economic considerations. As such development in principle is not the problem, but rather specific site of this application in such a sensitive area visually, environmentally, economically, culturally and socially.
2. LDP2: The application contravenes many parts of the Council’s Local Development Plan 2 (LDP2) as it is outside the Calgary “settlement area” and does not constitute infill or rounding-off (identified as requirements within the LDP2 for development in designated Countryside Areas).
3. Designated sites: The proposed development should be refused because it falls entirely within the Local Nature Conservation and SSSI sites which are protected.
4. Visual impact: The north side of Calgary Bay is a place of wild, natural beauty loved and visited by many.
5. Diminishing a key visitor attraction: Calgary is one of the top 10 visitor attractions on Mull so preserving its wild beauty is key to the local economy.
6. Natural environment surrounding the access road: The natural environment will suffer irreparable damage if a 3.5m wide access road (up to 5.5m wide in passing places) capable of supporting heavy construction machinery, emergency service vehicles and regular domestic use is constructed along the current track which is mostly designated as a SSSI.
7. Site suitability: The scale and location of the proposals are completely at odds with the need for appropriately sited affordable housing on Mull.
8. Impact on visitors and local businesses: The development would greatly diminish the very qualities that bring people to Calgary with consequent impacts on local businesses.
9. Biodiversity: Considerable impact on biodiversity and protected species, together with their habitats. Species recorded (many are protected, rare or threatened) include otters, seals, adders, slow worms, transparent burnet moths, hen harriers, golden and white-tailed eagles, lizards, newts, toads and frogs. The preliminary ecology report was completed in November when many species were hibernating or absent and it was specified by the ecologist within this survey that further evaluation is required. No decision other than outright rejection should be made until a seasonally appropriate survey is received and analysed.
10. Historical impact: This is a setting of historical, archaeological and spiritual importance with three scheduled monuments (Inivea village, the pier and the “boathouse”). The three sites are interconnected by a sensitive shared history which includes the clearances. The development does not retain, protect, conserve or enhance the integrity of the setting of these monuments.
11. Archaeological impact: The site is next to the Calgary Dun dating from 1st-3rd centuries and is a site of archaeological importance. The plans show the waste pipe is to be routed around the base of this which will involve significant excavation.
12. Pollution: Wastewater from the house will be directed into a small burn which is closer to the beach than the house and is used by otters. Pollution risks may deter both swimmers and wildlife especially at low tide.
13. Lack of community benefit: There is virtually no tangible benefit to the community from this development, only detriment (private road, footpath moved and possibly made less accessible, boathouse adapted for private use, restrictions on the public car park to ensure there is always sufficient access to the private drive etc).

HOW TO SUBMIT AN OBJECTION

There are 3 ways to submit an objection: