Further to the Highland Council South Planning Committee’s lawful vote to grant planning permission to the ICTFC Battery Farm Planning application and our crucial open meeting which was held at Caledonian Stadium on Wednesday night, and the hundreds of requests we received from fans over the last few weeks, if you want to support the club in this matter, please just click on the email address of councillor you want to send your thoughts to and press send. The email below will then be sent from you in its entirety.
You can send this to your ward councillor or any councillor on this publicly available list. There is no limit to how many councillors you wish to make the facts known to. Simply click an email address and press send.
A lawful and democratic vote is at risk along with the club because certain members of Highland Council were not happy with the result.
Help us stop this complete injustice to the club.
Thank You for your support.
Ross Morrison
Chairman
ICTFC
Dear Councillor,
The proposed Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC Battery Farm development occupies only 2% of the former golf course at Fairways and its surrounding area and is distinct from the wider area because it is set behind commercial buildings and is screened by woodland. It has always been regarded as scrubland, even when the full golf course was in existence. The nearest house is more than 196 metres from the nearest planned battery unit.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sdbh86zimecn52gngef1c/Map.png?rlkey=6ngeq0mzk1snvx48epxmgdj3k&dl=0
The only reason for refusal is based on the loss of open space which, it must be noted, is a privately owned golf course. The amount of area the batteries will use is only 2% of the total area and 98% remains untouched, leaving over 196 acres available for dog walkers and other users. The football club community trust is reinstating 10 acres of new pitches and open green space for the entire community just a few hundred yards away at the IRA.
No trees will be removed. Additional trees and shrubs will be planted.
The Council’s own ecology officer has confirmed that the proposed planting will deliver a biodiversity net gain and has no objections.
It creates no visual impact for even the closest housing which is almost 200 metres away.
It creates no audible impact for even the closest housing which is almost 200 metres away.
The approved and proposed Local Development Plan does not allocate any part of the golf course for housing and specifically not the application site as has been suggested.
Fire risk etc is not a material planning consideration.
The Head of Protection and Preparedness for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they had no issues with this application.
The only matter to be assessed is the loss of the 2% of the existing privately owned golf course.
National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) provides the up-to-date policy guidance for all development proposals.
Policy 11 – Energy – states that
‘Development proposals for all forms of renewable, low carbon and zero emissions technologies will be supported’
Battery storage technology is specifically mentioned.
South Planning Applications Committee, by a legal majority, identified that while it was acknowledged that the development would result in a tiny loss of open space, the development would encourage, promote, and facilitate renewable energy storage and so would comply with policy 11 of NPF4. It was considered that the benefits gained under policy 11 of NPF4 outweighed the tiny loss of open space and therefore the application should be granted and see over 80 local jobs saved as a result and £125,000 in rates paid per annum to Highland Council.
This justification stands and remains a valid reason for the grant of planning permission and a lawful democratic vote should not be overturned because people didn’t like the result of the vote. It is the antithesis of a democratic decision.
Thank you,