North Ayrshire’s planning review body have dismissed an appeal for controversial housing along the greenbelt, near to Fairlie Bowling Club.
The move for 20 houses was initially rejected by the council back in June, and Fairlie Community Council had also opposed the development on the ribbon area.
However, Cunninghame Housing Association (CHA), who are behind the proposal, argued that there is a great need for social housing in Fairlie.
In a letter to NAC, a CHA official stated: Although Dawn Homes are currently building a sizeable development of new private houses for sale in Fairlie we understand that there were no opportunities for social housing to be included within this new development. Given the size and scale of this new private housing site, we find this surprising and almost certainly a missed opportunity to introduce an element of choice for those seeking affordable housing options within Fairlie.
“It is our firm belief that the Fairlie development would redress this situation and ease the pressure within the highly pressurised North Coast area where opportunities to deliver affordable housing have already been lost. (Largs, West Kilbride, Dawn homes). We held a consultation event in Fairlie last year and one of the main issues coming from attendees was the lack of housing options for people, particularly those who wished to remain in the village who are unable to afford Dawn Homes properties and are looking for affordable housing choices.”
However, the local authority planners believed the proposal represented ‘unjustified development in the countryside’, and would have set an ‘undesirable precedent for other unjustified development within the countryside.”
In making their decision, the council highlighted that the housing development, which would have been provided by RDK Construction and designed by Stewart Associates, was an ‘unacceptable development within the countryside to the detriment of the visual amenity of the area, and create a significant adverse impact on the landscape setting of Fairlie, and due to the location would not offer an acceptable level of residential amenity for future occupants, given the proximity of the site to the A78.”
Fairlie Community Council had stated that the green space between Fairlie and Largs enables Fairlie to maintain its unique character and environment.