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Developer behind north-east hotel in bid to ditch £30,000 transport bill

Artist's impressions of the  new Hilton hotel in Westhill
Artist's impressions of the new Hilton hotel in Westhill

The developer behind a major new north-east hotel has made a bid to get out of a £30,000 transport bill.

Plans for the 173-bedroom Hampton by Hilton hotel on Straik Road in Westhill, at the former blockworks site, were approved in January.

The building is now taking shape however its owner, Brick Developments Ltd, has applied through Findlay Glover and Macaulay Ltd to have a £29,651 fee towards local infrastructure scrapped.

It comes following a landmark Court of Session ruling on developer’s obligations relating to Chapelton of Elsick, near Newtonhill.

The Elsick Development Company (EDC) claimed victory in a battle with Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City councils to slash a developer’s contribution bill for the major scheme from £8million to £287,000.

The EDC had been asked to pay the sum to the Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Authority’s Strategic Transport Fund (STF) as part of the planning consent.

Lawyers argued the demand was unlawful, and won.

Now Brick Developments is arguing the section-75 agreement it entered into with Aberdeenshire Council upon gaining planning approval is no longer relevant.

Clause-four of the settlement required the sum be made to the STF within 28 days of the development’s completion.

The £29,651 would have been transferred to Nestrans and used to fund “cumulative infrastructure requirements” under the SDPA’s supplementary planning guidance (SPG).

Brick Developments say the SPG has been “quashed and is now defunct” by the Court of Session’s decision.

A statement from the firm said: “On the basis that the SPG has been quashed by the Court of Session, there is no longer any policy justification for the council to require payment of contributions towards the STF.

“The contribution towards strategic transport infrastructure contained in the section-75 agreement can no longer be supported and justified.

“The council is constrained in terms of what it can spend the STF contribution on.

“If the SPG is quashed, it naturally follows that the STF can no longer operate. If the STF no longer operates, there is no justification for requiring payment to be made towards it.”

However, last week the Supreme Court gave the SDPA leave to appeal the decision by the Court of Session.

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman said: “This application is valid in planning terms and will be progressed through the usual planning process, being assessed on its merits at the time of any decision.”