Lochore Meadows environmental impact assessment
- Client Name
- W J Thomson and Son
- Location
- Fife, UK
Challenge
SLR was appointed to manage and coordinate the Environmental Impact Assessment for this proposed development.
The site comprises approximately 7.5 hectares (ha) of open grazing land along the eastern boundary of the town of Kelty, located approximately 7.5km south west of Dunfermline. The site had been previously used for railway sidings, industrial and domestic buildings with associated roads, yards, and laydown areas.
The Proposed Development comprised 80 holiday lodges, with three retail units and recreational uses contained within a converted agricultural building to be known as the Cow Shed.
A number of ancillary elements were also proposed, including drainage infrastructure, access roads, a maintenance building, and landscaping.
Solution
We prepared and submitted a request for a scoping opinion and subsequently the EIA Report in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.
Working alongside the applicant and the technical consultant team, we ensured that suitable mitigation was embedded into the development to mitigate potential effects. This included planting of broadleaved woodland and hedgerows to mitigate effects on landscape character and views, the provision of sustainable drainage systems to ensure appropriate treatment and storage of surface water prior to discharge to receiving waters, and the import of clean soils and inclusion of gas protection measures to deal with contamination associated with the previous uses of the site.
Impact
We prepared the request for a scoping opinion to formally agree the content of the EIA Report to accompany the planning application. Our approach meant a ‘scoped-down’ EIA Report was agreed, with only landscape and visual effects; water supply, drainage and flooding; and ground conditions and contamination requiring stand-alone technical chapters.
The planning application and EIA Report were submitted to Fife Council in June 2022, with conditional approval received in January 2024.
