Tain Asda

[Cattach]

Councillors in Ross and Cromarty have been far sighted enough to see the employment, tourism and local development potential of an Asda store to vote overwhelmingly in favour of one in Tain though it is against the local plan. We in Caithness have been thwarted to date by councillors with no foresight and ambition for retail development in the Thurso area which would benefit the whole county and set in progress 21st century development in our area.

[jaykay]

I agree wholeheartedly with you Cattach. It would also be good to give Tesco a bit of competition.

[Humerous Vegetable]

And keep fuel prices at an (almost) reasonable level. I wonder if this planning approval signals a break in the apparent stranglehold Tesco has on the necks of Highland councillors? Well done Tain.

[Mr P Cannop]

was at the meeting in inverness Highland Council HQ yesterday it was a very long long debate about asda in tain

[Penelope Pitstop]

was at the meeting in inverness Highland Council HQ yesterday it was a very long long debate about asda in tain

Hi there,
Were some of the councillors against the ASDA decision?? If so, can I ask what swung the decision around in ASDA's favour? ...maybe we could get some tips!

[Mr P Cannop]

it was not on the local plan for tain 20 voted for it and 8 not for it

[Bill Fernie]

A longer report on the Tain ASDA decision at highland council is in the Press And Journal today - See
http://www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=149664&command=displayContent&sourceNode=149490&contentPK=16881810&folderPk=85696&pNodeId=149221

[Cattach]

Experience in other areas has shown that two supermarkets compete against one another and give an even better deal for the public. Without Asda competition in Thurso to sharpen the thought of Tesco in Wick neither town will get full benefit.

[peter macdonald]

IF and only IF the ASDA for Thurso plan gets booted Do you think they will look at Wick????

[Cattach]

IF and only IF the ASDA for Thurso plan gets booted Do you think they will look at Wick????

Probably unlikely but certainly think Tesco will. They are just watching the situation and have an eye on the mart site. Then Tesco would be in the Inverness situation with control of the whole caithness area. at least Asda will be a counter balance to a Tesco takeover.

[Mr P Cannop]

Mr R Durham seconded by Mr A Torrance MOVED that the application be approved subject to appropriate conditions being delegated to the Director of Planning, in consultation with the local Members concerned, together with both the Chairman of the Headquarters PDET Committee and the Chairman of the Ross and Cromarty Area Planning Committee, on the basis that there were material considerations which outweighed the reasons for refusal as set out in the report, including that:

i. an application for 80 houses, not identified in the Local Plan, had been approved by the Ross and Cromarty Area Planning Committee at its meeting held on 13 March 2007, which, taken together with other recent approvals, meant that 100 additional houses were to be built in the area, more than compensating for housing land lost to the Asda proposals;

ii. the application accorded with Structure Plan Policies G1, G2, R1, R2 and R4;

iii. the application accorded with the Local Plan in terms of sustainable development and settlement hierarchy; and

iv. the development of a food retail store on the proposed site would assist resurgence of the commercial role of Tain.



The Director of Planning and Development advised that should the Committee be minded to approve the application, it would require to be submitted to the Scottish Executive as number of parking spaces required by the Council’s parking standards exceeded the limits set by the Executive. His suggestion that Asda be asked for a commuted sum to offset the loss of affordable housing on the land, as was the Council’s normal practice where housing land was used for other purposes by a developer, was not taken up by the Committee.



As an AMENDMENT, Mr A S Park seconded by Mr R Saxon moved that the application be refused for the reasons set out in the report.



Clarification was given that Members who had not been present for the entirety of the debate were not eligible to vote. On a vote being then taken, the MOTION received 20 votes and the AMENDMENT received 8 and the AMENDMENT was therefore CARRIED, the votes being cast as follows:



For the Motion:



Mr J H Green

Mr D Allan

Mr A Rhind

Mr A Torrance

Mr R W Durham

Mr R MacIntyre

Mr E C MacKinnon
Mr W Barclay

Mr I MacDonald

Mr J Laing

Mr W M Fulton

Mr J MacDonald

Mr A Milne

Mr C L Goodman
Mr J S Gray

Mr N A Donald

Mrs K G Matheson

Mr R Wynd

Mrs L MacDonald

Mr W Clark




For the Amendment:



Mr R Saxon

Mr G M Smith

Mr F R M Keith
Mr M M Macmillan

Mr S J Shiels

Mr R J Lyon
Mr A S Park

Mr B M S Dunlop




Decision



The Committee AGREED, subject to reference of the application to the Scottish Executive, to grant planning permission subject to conditions to be agreed by the Director of Planning and Development following consultation with the Chairman, the Chairman of the Ross and Cromarty Area Planning Committee and the two Local Members (Mr A Torrance and Mr A Rhind), on the basis that, in the opinion of Members, there were material considerations which outweighed the reasons for refusal as set out in the report, including that:



i. an application for 80 houses, not identified in the Local Plan, had been approved by the Ross and Cromarty Area Planning Committee at its meeting held on 13 March 2007, which, taken together with other recent approvals meant that 100 additional houses were to be built in the area, more than compensating for housing land lost to the Asda proposals;

ii. the application accorded with Policies G1, G2, R1, R2 and R4;

iii. the application accorded with the Local Plan in terms of sustainable development and settlement hierarchy; and

iv. the development of a food retail store on the proposed site would assist resurgence of the commercial role of Tain.

[lasher]

Councillors in Ross and Cromarty have been far sighted enough to see the employment, tourism and local development potential of an Asda store to vote overwhelmingly in favour of one in Tain though it is against the local plan. We in Caithness have been thwarted to date by councillors with no foresight and ambition for retail development in the Thurso area which would benefit the whole county and set in progress 21st century development in our area. What about the bribes there getting?

[Cattach]

What about the bribes there getting?

I think you are right. The Thurso councillors must have been given some sort of incentive to vote against Asda!