MERKINCH Community Council are writing to object to proposals to build 10 housing units on Dunabban Road. Originally the site had permission for six flats, but now developer Ewen Gillies is seeking to erect more.

At their February meeting CC members felt that the site, which at one time had a model lodging house and then a scrap merchants’ yard on it, was too small for the proposed plan.

The building would sit right on the pavement and there would be what members felt was too narrow an access to a back court for parking.

“They’re just trying to cram too much in,” said one member. “There would be no room for pedestrians when they all put their bins out; the entry is too narrow for emergency vehicles to turn and there is insufficient parking for 10 units.”

It was agreed to object to the planning application. Still on the subject of planning matters, members heard that planning permission had not been granted to Howard David and the millennium Trust to open Thornbush House as a Christian youth centre, though Sandy Coull’s plans for the smiddy had got the go-ahead.

Other topics discussed by the CC included the following:

• Carse Tenants and Residents Association reported that, following a meeting with various Council officers in the Town House, there would hopefully soon be an improvement to a two-year backlog in housing improvements.
• Despite a favourable response to a survey of local householders regarding creating a kickabout area behind Grant Street, Councillor Peter Corbett and adjacent property owner Clair Pieraccini felt the site “a bit restricted for football”.
• Next meeting of the Community Council is at Merkinch Community Centre on 15th March at 7.15pm.