Discovery Land Company, the estate developers, will answer questions about the development put through the Community Council. If you have questions please let us know. This first batch is in response to some of the questions put regarding the 'Back of House' planning proposals.

How much light pollution will there be?

There will be a degree of lighting required, especially given that there are fundamental health and safety issues with this aspect of the overall project. The PKC Environmental Health Department and the Planning Department set levels of illumination that they deem to be acceptable.  We will appoint a lighting consultant to ensure we meet to those obligations, and indeed beat them if we can.

How much noise pollution will there be?

There will inevitably be some noise associated with this development. We are acutely aware of, and appreciate, the relative tranquillity of the valley. Again, noise levels are set by PKC, Planning and Environmental Health departments. An acoustic consultant will be appointed and we will demonstrate, in due course, full compliance. There is a desire, at all times, to better the minimum standards as has been clearly demonstrated over the other areas of the estate – e.g. the ‘dark sky’ preservation at the Castle i.e. no street lighting or ‘way finder lighting’ on the estate.

What will be the impact on local traffic?

Clearly, there will be traffic using this area of the site. The proposals will take the traffic that would otherwise have entered the estate further along the A827 thus avoiding travel to the Castle and onward to Kenmore. Traffic from this development will be internal within the estate – taking yet more vehicles off the main road. There will still be some westbound traffic, of course, to get to Kenmore for example.

Who manage the development, and how will it be monitored?

This development will be managed to the same high standards as the rest of the Estate. We will have a manager who will liaise with the local community but this person has not been appointed yet. It is likely to be some months, and possibly years, before there is anything up and running on this site as there is a significant amount of work to be done even to secure the statutory consents. Assuming consent is granted there will be planning conditions which we will be bound to adhere to. In the unlikely event that there is a breach of these conditions then the initial complaint would be to PKC Planning Enforcement who will then investigate and take action – if action is required. We have monthly meetings with PKC planning and planning enforcement to ensure we adhere to the relevant extant permissions.

See also the Council position statement and DLC's response to your questions for further Q&A.