Perth and Kinross councillor granted permission to convert shop into living accommodation

A Perth and Kinross councillor has been given the go-ahead to convert a village post office and shop into living accommodation.

In an unusual twist, Perth and Kinross Council’s (PKC) Planning and Placemaking Committee was asked to consider an application from one of its own committee members on Wednesday.

Due to the conflict of interest, Cllr Bob Brawn was unable to play any part in the decision of which councillors gave unanimous approval and had to leave the chambers for the entire time the application was discussed.

The Blairgowrie and Glens councillor submitted a change of use planning application to PKC to change Bridge of Cally Post Office and General Store into additional living accommodation for his home.

Cllr Brawn has run the village shop with his wife Helen for the past 22 years. They live in the property which the store is part of.

On May 31, 2025 they will close Bridge of Cally Post Office and General Store – 22 years to the day since they first started. And Bob has seen it change “dramatically” over that time.

He said: “A lot of the people have moved away or passed away upwards. Many of the houses get sold and become second homes so the volume of people goes down.

“In the summer months, people come up and buy bacon and eggs and all the usual bits but, ever since COVID, it’s all changed and it’s all online shopping now. We don’t see the people. The whole concept of corner shops has gone. Add to the fact, Royal Mail used to deliver our newspapers; they pulled the plug on that in June. Our volume of paper sales have dropped from an average of 35 a day to 12 so it’s a dramatic change. All these things add up – plus we’re 22 years older now and Helen’s health is not as good as it was. It all adds up.

“We have enjoyed it. It’s hard work – papers are seven days a week. But there comes a time you have to face facts; we were in our forties when we came up, we’re now in our sixties.

“Everyone has said the nicest things and they understand why we’re doing it. We had no objections at all.”

While there were no objections to Cllr Brawn’s planning application, it had to get scrutinised by the committee due to his role as an elected member.

Cllr Brawn – who will continue with his council role and hopes to stand for another term – said: “It was a bit of a complicated one because normally when you have an interest you step out but, of course, I was the applicant as well so it caused a bit of investigation on the legal side to see if I could actually speak as a deputation or email the committee but I couldn’t do any of it because of the code of conduct, which was fine.”

To his great relief, the decision was approved within about two minutes when the committee considered the application on Wednesday, March 12. Independent councillor Dave Cuthbert moved for approval, SNP councillor Grant Stewart seconded and planning permission was unanimously granted by the committee.