Ambitious plans for the construction of a 25-house development in Lesmahagow have been approved by the South Lanarkshire Council Planning committee.
The development from Alan Wilson of Modern Housing Limited is on land 85 metres south of Brocketsbrae Road,
The houses would have large windows to every room, which would not only enhance the quality of living, but it would also cut down on electricity usage as the artificial lighting would not be required as much.
All homes would have air source heat pumps. These will have an energy efficiency of around 400 per cent.
This would reduce the energy consumption to heat the house and to heat the water up.
Each house would have solar panels, which would allow the home owners to reduce their reliance on the national grid. All dwellings would also have electric car charging points. All of these actions when combined would give the development a lower carbon footprint than a traditional housing development.
There is a two-metre wide footpath on Eastwood Road, which takes you into Lesmahagow with local schools and shops, some 15 minute walk. The bus stops in Priory Road can also be reached in approximately 15-20 minutes.
Given the previous planning history and having assessed the proposal against these policies, there are no provisions that would change the assessment of the proposal, or the conclusions reached, in the context of the local development plan.
As such, the current proposal is considered to raise no issues that would merit refusal, planning officials told the committee.
Cllr Ross Lambie said: “This site has been rumbling on for quite a long time now and you’ll see some original documents if you go back. One was about the noise impact of the motorway next door. That was from 10 years ago and recent traffic monitoring on the M74 shows traffic has gone up about 40 odd per cent.”
A planning official said there were four conditions relating to the noise on the site, but those would be updated for the amenity of the residents moving in.
The development was approved subject to conditions.
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