THE Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has lodged an objection to plans for new luxury homes on the Taymouth Castle Estate.
Discovery Land Company (DLC) is developing the estate in Highland Perthshire into an exclusive residential resort for the mega-rich, modelled on luxury compounds run by the firm across the globe.
We told at the end of August how developers were facing calls to “open up their plans to full public scrutiny” amid concerns about discrepancies in published documents.
Now, The Courier reports that Sepa has said the location, beside the River Tay, would put people and property at risk from flooding.
It is urging Perth and Kinross Council to reject the proposals with drawings on the local authority’s planning portal showing proposed properties hard up against a new flood defence bund.
Sepa is calling for the council to reject plans for nine homes which would be located to the east of the castle and six to the north-east.
A letter to the council reads: “The cornerstone of sustainable flood risk management is the avoidance of flood risk as a first principle.
“We object in principle to the application and recommend that planning permission is refused.
“This is because the proposed development may put people or property at risk of flooding, which is contrary to national planning policy.”
The agency also wants changes made to a third housing zone, calling for two of the five properties at a site to the west of the castle to be removed entirely.
DLC already has permission to build 26 homes on either side of the castle but has submitted fresh plans to the council amid fears of flooding.
It is now seeking to reduce the total number of homes around the castle to 20.
A supporting statement alongside the latest planning application says: “The approved location for a number of the approved dwellings lies on the riverside of the flood defence, which would increase flood risk to the properties should they be built.
“As such, the revised proposals place the dwellings on the castle side of the bund to ensure resilience to flood risk and climate change, whilst also creating a unique landscape feature.”
The council will consider the planning applications at a later date.
An online petition against the development, launched last year by protest group Protect Loch Tay, has picked up more than 16,000 signatures.
The National has approached DLC for further comment.
