Appeal Against Refused Paisley Petrol Station Plans to Proceed with Site Visit
A site visit will take place to determine an appeal against Renfrewshire Council's decision to reject plans for a petrol station, kiosk and drive-thru café in Paisley. The proposed development – which also included an electric vehicle charging facility – on a brownfield site at West March Road, south of St James Interchange, was refused planning permission earlier this year. Despite officers' recommendation to grant, subject to conditions, the application was snubbed by the planning and climate change policy board in March.
Reasons for Refusal and Appeal Arguments
The impact on neighbouring properties, effect on character and amenity of the surrounding area and scale of the project were among the reasons cited. But Ferguson Planning, working on behalf of EG on the Move, challenged the ruling to Scottish ministers, arguing the project does comply with the relevant policies. A statement said: "The proposed scale of the development is dictated by the functional need to service vehicles. The petrol filling station is a standard scale, typical of most petrol filling stations. The simple single-storey form of both the café and retail unit will not create an overbearing sense of bulk or enclosure, in part due to the separation from other existing buildings and the scale of the nearby road flyover. The ancillary nature of the drive-thru and retail units mean that they will not have a detrimental impact on the range of network centres in the local area."
Council's Response and Resident Concerns
However, responding on behalf of the local authority, Porter Planning claimed: "The proposal would result in unacceptable impacts on amenity and neighbouring properties, would fail to successfully co-exist with surrounding uses, would have a significant effect on the character of the surrounding area and is not of an appropriate scale for this location. Taken together, these conflicts are substantial and go to the heart of the relationship between the proposed development and its surroundings." Representations have also been submitted urging the Scottish Government to uphold the council's decision and dismiss the appeal. One said: "Residents in this area have been raising concerns about this site and the wider pattern of development around it for some time now, and those concerns have not gone away. If anything, they have grown stronger. I fully support Renfrewshire Council's decision to refuse this application and believe the planning board was right to conclude that the development would have an unacceptable impact on the residential amenity of St James Avenue and the surrounding area."
Site Visit and Decision Timeline
It has been confirmed the reporter appointed to the case will carry out an inspection of the site. It is likely that after doing so they will have enough information to make their decision which will be issued in due course. A target date of Tuesday, August 4, has been set by the planning and environmental appeals division.
