Highland Council receives planning application for 14 homes on Lochcarron hillside; development layout and design has been revised following earlier approved plans in the Wester Ross community
More than a dozen homes could be built on the outskirts of Lochcarron after new plans were lodged.
If approved Compass Building & Construction, working with Highland Council, hopes to build 14 houses and flats on land on the hillside immediately to the north-west of Kirkton Gardens. Four plots would also be created.
The land is part of a wider area zoned for mixed use in the local development plan and already has planning permission for housing on the site, which was approved in 2022.
However, the new plans mark a revision of what has been submitted before - with subsequent site investigation works revealing shallow rock on the land.
This sparked a rethink from developers, with documents submitted alongside the new application saying that this rock strata made approved drainage proposals too costly.
They have now come back with a revised design and layout that they believe will address these issues. They say the new design will mean changes to the house types, roads and drainage.
The main differences with previous proposals include a relocated SUDS basin that will make use of contours, and also the provision of a wider “buffer between new and existing housing".
The layout will also result in a "larger distance between proposed housing and existing housing in Kirkton Gardens to minimise overlooking".
Drainage proposals will also be changed to "avoid the requirement for any deep excavation", with the levels and locations of housing adjusted accordingly.
In a supporting statement submitted alongside the plans, agents for the developer said the housing would make the "initial phase of housing on this area of land, with the access road designed to facilitate access to develop the rest of the site to the north west and north east at a later date."
They continued: "This phase is designed to provide 14 affordable houses and flats which are designed to accommodate a range of tenure types and four plots.
"The village of Lochcarron is a ribbon development running along the shore line of Loch Carron with this site located towards the north east end of the village behind a predominantly residential area to the north west of the Lochcarron Hotel."
If approved the 14 homes would be a mix of eight two-bedroom flats, two two-bedroom villas, and four three-bedroom villas.
The statement continues: "The villas will all have private driveway parking and private rear gardens, with the flats being provided with shared parking courts. This arrangement allows the units to be located closer to the road and provides a larger buffer distance to the existing housing below thus minimising overlooking."
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