On 27 April 2026 Aberfeldy Development Trust had our planning application validated to build 8 affordable homes for the Aberfeldy community on the site that we are calling Corran Rèile (the Railway Arch) on the site of the former Slaughterhouse at the eastern end of the town.
This followed a lengthy process of consultation both with Perth and Kinross Council in the pre-planning process and with the community, particularly those who live closest to the site.
We have raised around three quarters of a million pounds to pay for the construction of these homes which should allow us to offer them to the community at highly subsidised rents or for affordable sale. Once built, we will be able to retain the homes for the community, meaning that only people with local connections will be able to rent or buy them.
In this context we were very disappointed that the Community Council took the decision to object to the planning application. Particularly as when we offered to present in more detail to the Community Council along with the experts that we have commissioned to build the application we were told by the Community Council that that would be “counterproductive”. We would much rather have had a more engaged discussion with the Community Council so that they would have had the full facts to consider.
As is standard practice with planning applications we have been through a formal pre-planning process with the Council’s officials to check that we are complying with the relevant rules and requirements that they will assess during the formal consideration of the application.
As people would rightly expect we commissioned those experts to help us manage the three relatively common issues that the Community Council raise (flooding, site contamination and access). Indeed on site contamination, as a result of the detailed environmental reports the Trust commissioned we have been able to secure £300,000 from the Scottish Government, with the assistance of PKC, to pay for the works to decontaminate the site. Transforming unused land in the town into homes. As with any application we have also had detailed conversations with PKC and SEPA around the flood risk for the site and have solutions to that that will not only mitigate flood risk for the site but hopefully improve the situation for surrounding properties too.
As for access to the site and access to the development once complete, we have listened to and understand the concerns raised by some residents of Appin Place. During the pre-planning process the PKC Roads Team noted their preference for the site to be accessed via Appin Place to maintain connections to the town and road and footpath network. On the basis of the concerns raised by Appin Place residents we have, however, explored other possible access routes. Including by removing the current railway arch or by coming through the bank of earth beside it. Either of these options may be technically feasible but would add significant cost to the construction, well over £100,000, which as a community charity we cannot easily raise without potentially having to charge higher rents or sale prices if we can raise that money at all. There is also a complicated patchwork of ownership issues related to these alternative routes which, again, could attract significant cost that we do not readily have.
Ultimately we will follow the conclusions of the Council in their consideration of the application. The safety of local residents will of course be at the heart of the Council’s decision and our approach.
The Trust are trying our best to balance the acute affordable homes need of the town, with our ability to raise funds to ensure those homes are genuinely affordable and the understandable concerns of local residents. We think we have found a reasonable balance of these issues and will clearly make such a case to the Council if needs be.