Stirling Council planners have lost information which would confirm whether 41 planning conditions regarding a city centre development have been fulfilled.
The admission was made following a Freedom of Information request, submitted by Riverside community councillor Isabella Gorska, concerning the Chandlers Court area flats complex on the west side of Forthside Way.
Planning consent for both it and for the development of land opposite was approved in 2006 but land on the east of Forthside Way lay vacant until May last year when construction started on the recently-completed £18.2 million Riverside Quay student accommodation.
And on August 28 this year work began on clearing the remainder of a site on the east side of Forthside Way in preparation for the start of a £9 million development by Glasgow-based Allied Contracts (Forthside) Ltd of two blocks of flats, each up to seven storeys.
That work prompted an outcry from residents living nearby who were concerned about site safety and whether the work had been authorised.
Council officials confirmed planning consent had been agreed 13 years earlier, when development of land on the other side of Forthside Way was approved, but halted site clearance to check whether the Allied Contracts (Forthside) had satisfied conditions which require to be met before work can start.
Riverside Community Council then sought assurances that 41 conditions attached to the original planning consent – particularly those relating to environmental issues, land contamination, construction hours, noise and site traffic – were going to be met by the developer
Ms Gorska also asked in an FoI for evidence that the conditions had been met regarding to the completed development on the west of Forthside Way.
However, in a reply to her dated October 8, the council said that information wasn’t available.
The council’s records and information governance team added: “Following searches of both paper and electronic files, (the planning department) have been unable to locate the details which were submitted to satisfy the terms of the pre-commencement conditions attached to planning consent. This situation is likely to have occurred during the move away from the use of paper files and the introduction and use of an electronic system within the department.”
The reply failed to satisfy Ms Gorska who, as a member of Stirling Area Access Panel, was angry at the council’s decision in September, 2017, to allow Historic Environment Scotland to a waive a planning condition regarding disabled parking provision at the £11million Engine Shed development, also in Forthside Way.
Planning officials said the condition no longer applied as it was not possible to provide the spaces alongside the completed facility. Since then trades personnel and other visitors to the Engine Shed have often been spotted parked near the complex.
Ms Gorska said she had appealed against the response to her FoI and added: “In today’s electronic era there is no excuse for losing large amounts of evidence to confirm 41 pre-build conditions were met. Each condition would have been dealt individually and this would have generated a lot of correspondence, reports and paperwork both electronically and hard copies.
“It raises the question of incompetence and many other questions.
“I find the overt lack of transparency with this planning application and lack of evidence that conditions were ever met very concerning as I did with my involvement with lack of disabled parking at the Engine Shed.”
She wanted evidence the 41 conditions had been met before the start of further work on the Forthside site, and added: “I would specifically like detailed information on condition 14 relating to adequate play provision to serve the development.
“To date there is no evidence of any play provision at this development.”
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “The original response issued to Ms Gorska was unclear and fell short of our expected standards. We are currently reviewing our files that date back to 2006. On completion of the review we will be in touch with Ms Gorska with further information.”
