A former district councillor has warned that North Ayrshire planning is being ‘brought into dispute’ unless planning conditions are enforced.
In his objection to the development, John Riddell highlighted that Dawn Homes had agreed to have a path put in place in time for houses being occupied in their first development in the village, but eight months have since passed, and no path.
John said: “In September 2015 the council granted consent for phase 1 of the Dawn development, 22 conditions were attached to that consent all accepted by Dawn. One condition relates to the provision of a temporary footpath for access to and from the new development. The path was to be usable by both pedestrians and cyclists and to be lit. It was to be in place prior to the occupation of the phase one houses.
“The first phase houses were occupied in December 2016. Cyclists still cannot get between the new homes an existing housing to the south, between the new homes and the railway station, between the new homes and the village hall and between new homes and the village library without having to go a long way round using the narrow pavements of the A78 network.
“It would appear to many that Dawn Homes has simply disregarded this condition. It also appears that officers of this council have declined to enforce compliance with the condition for reasons which are not clear.”
Planning permission was granted, although a request for a two month deadline for a new path was put forward by Mr Riddell
Planning chief Jim Miller, put a year deadline for a new path , saying that a two month construction phase was too short. He said that strong demand for the path from the new householders had not been evident, but agreed that the conditions do have to be met.