Kincraig couple’s appeal win turns nightmare into dream come true
A Kincraig couple have won the right to proceed with planning their dream home after a nightmare wait compounded by Covid, red tape and changes in the law.
John Metcalfe and Charonne Ruth told the Strathy in February that their dream move from Haddington seemed an impossibility due to incredibly bad luck.
Their plan to build a three-bedroomed home on Alvie Estate was complicated by its siting in an area of designated ancient woodland which was also contained within dispersed housing.
The couple bought the plot in Wester Speybank in late 2019 with full planning permission already in place for the house and expected to renew the consent without any problems.
But this proved far from the case and if their appeal this week had been unsuccessful they would have been left with an expensive plot of land they potentially could not build on.
Mr Metcalfe said: “Our intention is to move to the area to live and work with a studio on site for Charonne to use as her base for her glass sculpture art business and as an educational resource. But soon after we bought the plot Covid hit and with it a series of personal difficulties. I was made redundant soon after and the glass gallery and course scene dried up completely
“We kept the Kincraig project ticking over as best we could in the background engaging tree survey, soil survey and so on. Once I had secured full time employment, we decided to submit a renewal of the existing planning permission to keep the planning alive and to allow us time to progress our plans.
“However, this was refused by Highland Council planners last December. We had no reason to assume that our renewal would not be a straightforward extension required as a result of the pandemic. This led us to losing the existing planning consent.”
Council planners refused permission for the proposed house because they said it would lead to loss of ancient woodland. NPF 4 came into force a year ago and supports better protection of existing woods.
Ms Ruth argued that the material loss to the area needed to be balanced against the concern around any loss of trees on the site.
“Discussion was interesting. Some of the points we thought might have been discussed at length, such as the fact it was a renewal, the length of time, that we purchased the plot right before Covid and it was for that reason we had to extend planning, that it was submitted before NPF4, wasn’t talked about at all. And other areas we thought wouldn’t be talked about were.
“Namely the quality of trees, what defines ancient woodlands, did this woodland represent ancient woodland and, including a very interesting question from one of the councillors - had the forestry officer just done a desk based exercise or had he actually visited the site?
“We are mightily relieved, it’s been a huge source of stress for us over the last 1.5 years. Now we are focusing on just getting on with the project.”