A group of travellers will find out today if they can stay on the land they have called home for the last six years.
The Stewart family bought a plot at Doohill, near Lhanbryde, in 2010 and began work to create a permanent base for themselves in the woodland spot – despite not having planning permission.
In 2011, Moray Council rejected their retrospective application, a decision later backed by the Scottish Government.
The family then faced being evicted by the local authority, but were eventually given a three-year reprieve by the government on the basis there was nowhere else for them to go.
Today, councillors will reconsider the application and are being urged by planning officers to make the consent permanent.
But last night, site owner George Stewart said he was “not counting his chickens” that the battle is over just yet.
The 65-year-old – who lives at the site with his wife, sons, daughter, nephew and 19 grandchildren – said: “We’ve been through years of hell. We’ve sunk everything we’ve got into this, all our finances and life-savings.
“We’re not counting our chickens. It’s been up for approval before and then rejected by the planning committee.
“There are still things we want to do with the place. There is still some screening to put up and I want to demolish the stables. Our life has been on hold though.”
The local authority threw out a bid by the family to stay there for three years in 2012 on the grounds that it would become an eyesore. However, the Stewarts then won an appeal to the Scottish Government because there was nowhere else for them to stay.
And Mr Stewart intends to challenge the case on human rights grounds if it is rejected again. The Elgin traveller believes the time has come for more permanent halting sites to be set up.
He said: “In the future, travellers should buy their own plots. If you’ve got money and you buy a place then you’re going to look after it.
“Everyone I know wants to do the same thing, buy a bit of land so they can go travelling but have a home base to go back to.
“I used to go travelling more, but at the age I am, I just want to settle down. I won’t ever move from this place, they’ll bury us here.”
Mr Stewart and his wife Martha live at Doohill with the family of their two sons, daughter and nephew, including 19 grandchildren, in a series of caravans, each with individual plots, entrances and front gates.
A report by principal planning officer Neal MacPherson states: “With the passage of time the site has become more established and landscaping along the northern and western boundaries further mitigating the visual impact of the site.
“Other than its proximity to Lhanbryde settlement boundary being less than 1km, it is considered to comply with all other aspects of relevant policy.”
The report explains that Doohill currently meets the shortfall of traveller sites in Moray with no other locations for them to go to if their bid is refused.
Mr Stewart said: “They’ve had 10 years to find a place for travellers, but the council say they can’t find any. I found one several years ago but they just dismissed it.”
No objections have been received by Moray Council from statutory consultees or local residents about the proposals for six permanent caravans, fencing, toilet and storage units.
