The Highland Council forestry officer has made a visit to the Bus Station site and his findings and observations may be a big blow to the developer's hopes. Here's a couple of extracts:
"Section 3.1.7. of the Design And Supporting Statement suggests that retaining the neighbouring building to the North West and wall to North East would allow sufficient separation between the new building and the trees so that it will not affect the longevity of the trees. As I already mentioned, there is unlikely to be any impact on tree roots as these are not likely to have grown under the foundations of the wall. However, the proposal brings the flats too close to the existing mature trees so that the shading would affect the amenity of the people living in the flats and there is likely to be subsequent pressure to have these trees removed as a result."
"While it would obviously be welcome to see the old bus depot being redeveloped, I have concerns that the scale and residential nature of the development would result in pressure to have adjacent trees removed. I am therefore not in a position to support the current proposals."
10 comments:
another poor excuse for not getting things done,get rid of the bloody trees,and get the place tidied up for christ sake,any excuse not to do it,it seems
naran.
There trees for goodness sake, cut them down and plant others in more suitable positions. Rocket science or what. Some people just can't move on !
It says a lot about the greed and selfishness of humans when other living things, be they animal or otherwise, are totally ignored. Those trees have been there for a long time, they provide habitat for other creatures and they should be given some consideration.
Sentimental drivvel over some overgrown weeds. Cut them down and use them for free winter fuel for the elderly. A nice happy ending for all.
OK Anon, three strikes and you are out :-)
The guy says,
"These are visually significant trees within the curtilage of Viewfield House, a ‘B’ class Listed Building, which also form an attractive backdrop to the existing buildings and bus stance when viewed from King Street. The trees are highlighted in the Viewfield, Nairn – Policy Paper (Jan 2006) as being a critical part of the character and ambiance of Viewfield."
"The extent of landscaping within this detailed application is just a one metre wide strip along the edge of the car parking area on the south side of the site. There are no details of what is planned to be planted here though. In any case, this narrow strip would be barely adequate for the establishment of any meaningful landscaping feature and would do very little to help soften or break up the scale and mass of the proposed building."
"There has clearly been no professional assessment of the trees around the site"
"The applicant would need to have the trees around the site professionally assessed in the form of a Tree Constraints Plan (TCP) and an Arboricultural Implications Assessment (AIA) to BS:5837(2005) in order to give any proposed development an adequate holdback from visually important existing trees."
Not sure what happens after the assessments are done.
Could they not build tree houses, everyone would be happy then
As long as they throw in a few vines here and there,Mr Tarzan and his chimps will be well happy.
Most of the trees in Viewfield are rotten going by someone who read the report done about fifteen years ago by an outside company. GEt rid of them and plant some Calendian Pine the original tree in this area.
There is an issue with Dutch Elm Disease in Viewfield but fortunately there are other types of trees in Viewfield too. I was recently talking to a local tree expert who is of the view that there are many fine specimens in Viewfield that have a long life ahead of them yet.
We are lucky to have Viewfield and other green spaces in the town and we must do everything we can to protect them and to create other such places as the town expands.
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