Final decision on plans to turn public Stonehaven park into rugby pitch expected this week

By Denny Andonova

January 10 2023, 5:16 pm

Residents in Stonehaven had launched a bid to save the town's Forest Park. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson.

The fate of long-debated proposals to turn a Stonehaven park into a training ground for a rugby club will be decided this week.

The land at Forest Drive has been a hotly discussed topic since 2020 when Mackie Rugby Football Club (RFC) first revealed ambitions to take on the town’s Forest Park.

Club bosses have since been fighting their case to gain ownership of the site to secure its future and continue its 46-year-long history of training local rugby players.

Until recently Mackie RFC used two pitches at Redcloak but the lease on one has been terminated and the other is due to end in 2026.

They now hope to build two new pitches at Forest Park, as well as a training area and gym, clubhouse, changing rooms and storage facilities.

Mackie RFC wants to turn Stonehaven’s Forest Park into a training ground which means it would be fenced off and the public could no longer use it. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson.

However, locals have raised concerns this would lead to the loss of their only green space, cutting off families from a “beloved park at the heart of their community”.

While 205 people have backed the proposals, 167 opponents have pleaded against the community asset transfer. A petition outlining park users’ worries has also amassed 1,165 signatures.

Councillors also weren’t convinced the benefits outweighed those concerns, and the plans were twice deferred for a site visit and refused by the Kincardine and Mearns area committee last June.

Final verdict expected later this week

Members of the business services committee are now expected to finally bring the case to a close on Thursday, nearly two years after the proposal was first lodged.

In a report to the committee, Alan Wood, director of environment and infrastructure services, stressed this has not been an easy or straightforward application to determine.

Highlighting the complexity of the matter, he wrote: “Aberdeenshire Council is in a difficult situation whereby a sports club are about to have their current lease terminated and no other site is readily available.

Nearly 1,400 people have opposed the proposals. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson.

“The club have looked at a number of potential sites but either these have not come forward in the latest local development plan or the sites would require significant instructure investment for which they cannot realistically raise the necessary funding.”

Mr Wood said that while officers have explored all avenues for an alternative solution, they couldn’t find other potential sites that would be suitable.

He added: “The officers’ recommendation is that this application should be approved due to the current low usage of Forest Park and to support the continuation of an established sports club and their delivery of rugby to all ages in the community.”