Planners have once again recommended refusal for controversial plans to legitimise a traveller’s site in southern Aberdeenshire.
Two new proposals were put to Aberdeenshire Council earlier this year, seeking retroactive planning approval for the encampment of mobile homes on land close to Eskview Farm, near to the St Cyrus nature reserve.
The plans have been put forward by North Esk Investments, which seeks to formalise the current site.
Development first started on the site in 2013, without any planning permission.
Last month, the plans went before the Kincardine and Mearns area committee, where councillors heard from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), as well as consultants for the developers.
A spokesman for SEPA outlined the environment body’s reasons for opposing the plans – primarily the “risk to human life” posed by potential flooding.
The developer’s consultants, however, urged members to weigh up the risk of flooding against the impact of leaving the travelling community without a home in St Cyrus.
The proposals will go before a full meeting of Aberdeenshire Council next week.
Fate of controversial St Cyrus traveller site to be decided next week
