Falkirk Council: Permission granted for house near Bridge Inn despite road safety fears

Members of Falkirk Council’s planning committee agreed that the house, which will have a triple garage built into the design, would be suitable for the B825, near its junction with the A803.

Planning officers advised refusing the application as the space for parking was not adequate according to regulations.

While the house has three garages, Falkirk Council does not allow garages to be counted as parking provision as they are “often used for storing things other than cars inside them”.

Roads officers were also concerned that the space in front of the garages was not big enough for three parked cars.

They were also concerned about “indiscriminate parking by patrons of nearby Bridge Inn along this section of road which often effectively made it single lane”.

Councillor Gordon Forrest said that he had reservations about the road, which was recorded being used by 1700 vehicles a day in 2012.

He said: “There’s been a lot of development in Whitecross and that is one of the main routes from that road.

“I’ve travelled that road many, many times and I do not like using it because of the parking.”

But Councillor James Kerr supported the plans and said it was “clearly an infill site”, with houses on both sides and he believed the site was justified.

Other councillors agreed it was an appropriate use of the site and were satisfied with the parking arrangements.

Cllrs Laura Murtagh and Gordon Forrest wanted to make it clear that they had concerns about the road safety and proposed refusing the application but this was defeated in a vote.