Doubts have surfaced over a controversial scheme to flatten a disused north-east hotel and construct new homes.
Aberdeenshire Council’s Kincardine and Mearns area committee granted planning permission in principle to demolish the once-popular Cammies, and create six detached houses on the land.
However, the local authority is recommending refusal of the proposals at Cammachmore, because the land is located within the green belt.
A meeting of the Infrastructure Committee next week will decide the next step forward for plans by developers Rocin Ltd to convert the building near Newtonhill into a residential street.
The popular family restaurant and hotel closed in May 2015 after the owners failed to find a buyer who was willing to keep the business as a going concern.
In a statement, Rocin Ltd said the hotel had “very little architectural merit”, and added “a more feasible option would be to demolish the existing building to allow for new-build dwellings”.
It stated: “As it currently stands, the building at Cammies will remain in its current, disused state for some time if we are unable to come to an alternative solution.”
North Kincardine SNP councillor, Alastair Bews, argued he didn’t want Cammies to go the way of Portlethen’s Hillside House, which was burned down in August.
He added: “I think to demolish it would be spot on. There have been 20 letters of support [for that option], and only one letter of objection.”
