Issues surrounding a new maltings earmarked for a Speyside town will have to be addressed by the company behind it.
Simpsons Malt submitted a proposal of application notice to Moray Council outlining their intention to build the plant in Rothes.
The maltings is expected to produce 100,000 tonnes of malt a year and create 40 jobs.
But residents have highlighted potential problems with the development including an increase in traffic, the environmental impact and the smell.
At a meeting of the council’s planning and regulatory services committee on Tuesday, members were asked to highlight concerns before a planning application for the plant at Greens of Rothes is submitted.
‘Residents are very concerned about the odour’
Speyside Glenlivet councillor Derek Ross, whose ward includes the town, noted concerns raised at a meeting of Speyside Community Council last week.
Issues include the site’s status in the current Moray development plan and water extraction from the River Spey.
Mr Ross said: “They brought up the climate emergency and whether it is right to remove agricultural land and have even more lorries in Rothes, which is already a bottleneck, and create more pollution and damage to the environment.
“They also said the adopted local development plan has removed this site in terms of an industrial state. So if a development in this site was approved, would that be a departure from that?
“Residents were very concerned about the odour coming from the plant and the industrialisation of a rural settlement and the effect on their community.
“They also pointed out in terms of the River Spey that water would be taken from the river and only 60% of that water would be put back.”
Principal planning officer Neal MacPherson agreed to meet councillor Ross before a response was given to Simpsons.
He said: “At this stage we have no application as yet and what we’ll do is make sure those concerns are identified as topics we want the applicant to investigate and account for.”
The planning application is expected to be submitted to the council later this year.
