Landowner issues plea over his bid to create village near Newtonhill

An Aberdeenshire estate owner is appealing to planners not to disregard his hopes for shaping the future of the region with a 6,000-home development.

The proposal for eco-friendly houses, four primary schools and an academy is one of the biggest bids put forward by developers for inclusion in plans for the future of Aberdeenshire.

The Elsick Development Company, which represents the Duke of Fife and neighbouring landowners, hopes to see the settlement built west of Newtonhill on land between the A90 Aberdeen-Stonehaven road and the proposed Western Peripheral Route.

A report from Aberdeenshire Council detailing which developers’ bids are favoured for the new local plan has pinpointed a separate proposal at Banchory-Leggart as the first choice.

Estate owner David Southesk, son of the Duke of Fife, said the Elsick plan would only directly affect “a handful” of people, unlike the bid for the neighbouring estate which has drawn objection from a group of residents. “We believe by putting the Banchory-Leggart development at the top end of the A90 it will cause further chaos to the Bridge of Dee,” he said. “Our development is much further down and we believe our traffic won’t be heading up the A90 in the same way.”

A potential link into the AWPR, removing traffic from the A90, is one of the plans for Elsick.

Rhoda Nelson, chairwoman of the local community council, said most members were in favour of a new village in the area but had not yet decided which one. “For Elsick, there were concerns about the people at Cammachmore that they are going to be swallowed up by the development. We have said there are a lot of benefits to the surrounding area, like new leisure and sports facilities.”

Mr Southesk said the Elsick proposal would create a greenbelt barrier between the new homes and the people of Cammachmore. A new website has been launched at www.elsick.co.uk