PEOPLE in a Moray town have vowed to fight to save their High Street and insist they will not be “walked over” by a property giant.
Campaigners say the £25million Redco Milne scheme at Forres would kill off the commercial heart of their community and are furious the firm wants to go ahead with it despite fierce local opposition.
The company was granted outline planning permission for a supermarket, petrol station and three retail units at Bogton Road, despite scores of objectors speaking out at a special hearing earlier this year.
But the developer says the project, part of which is on community-owned land including the Forres Mechanics football ground at Mosset Park, would create up to 500 jobs.
The plans also feature a new home for Forres Mechanics, to the east of the proposed retail development.
They were put on display at a workshop yesterday and locals gathered to have their say.
Former Bogton Road resident Eric Munro said: “I am absolutely dumbfounded and disgusted that this company are persisting and pursuing this matter, when they know we don’t want it.
“Obviously they have far too much money. They’d be better giving it to charity.
“They are persistent in telling us nothing. We have got an asset worth millions of pounds, and they think we will give it out for speculative development.”
Stewart Noble, who set up the Battle for Bogton online campaign page, said: “We don’t feel like they are listening.
“They seem to be looking for angles, like saying that they can change the design, so it’s more palatable. They are trying to sweeten the pill.”
He added: “We live here, and we care about the future, about our kids and our grandkids.
“Forres isn’t a walkover. Hundreds of people in Forres are totally against it. We are not going to let them do this to the town.”
Mr Noble, who is a new member of Forres Community Council, said the Battle for Bogton group would continue its campaign in earnest.
The group most recently held a picnic and music event at the Bogton playing fields to celebrate the green space and call on Moray Council not to sell the land.
Meanwhile, Bogton Road resident John Slavin said: “I find this really offensive.
“I have been sending letter after letter to my councillors.
“But it’s all gobbledegook. The company is like a politician that’s not answering questions. I feel really ignored and frustrated.
“I am originally from Ayrshire. I have seen this happen there. All the shops will start to shut down, all the windows get dirty, they start to get broken.
“There would be no reason for anybody passing through this town to stop. It would have a devastating effect on the community.”
A spokesman for Redco Milne, a partnership between Redco Assets and Stewart Milne, said last night: “At the planning hearing in June 2013, we made a commitment to hold informal workshops to involve neighbours of the site and we are glad to have held the event at the Ramnee Hotel in Forres.
“The purpose of the workshop was to update on our progress, to receive feedback from local residents and an opportunity for them to raise specific matters or issues which they would like the developer to take into account when drawing up the detailed proposals.
“We have listened carefully to feedback and would like to thank those who attended the workshop.”