North-east councillors are expected to approve plans to create a new local authority depot for 100 staff on the Banffshire coast when they convene next week.
The Banff and Buchan area committee will meet on Tuesday for the first time since the local government elections earlier this month. There are three new councillors on the committee.
The first major planning decision facing the group is whether or not to grant approval to Aberdeenshire Council’s own project to build a depot in Macduff.
The site at Tarlair Business Park on Old Gamrie Road would be used to store materials, including gritting salt as well as vehicles and equipment used by the council’s roads, waste and property teams.
There will be enough office space for 13 staff on site and a “mobile workforce” of more than 90 people will operate from the site. The new depot will bring together several services which are currently spread around the towns of Banff and Macduff.
The move to build one larger, centralised depot is part of a wider Aberdeenshire-wide policy by the authority to scrap run-down sites.
The proposed depot will be comprised of three metal-clad buildings as well as a car park.
A spokesman for the council’s planning department said: “These larger depots will replace existing smaller, dilapidated facilities scattered across the region.
“The proposal is split over two sites at the Tarlair business park, which is located on the eastern fringes of Macduff, adjoining the A98 and on land owned by Aberdeenshire Council.”
Councillors have been urged to back the scheme when they meet in Fraserburgh, despite concerns about how waste water from the depot will be handled.
Council infrastructure boss Stephen Archer argued the planning application fitted well with existing regulations and should be approved.
If councillors give the project their backing, it is anticipated they will attach several conditions on the construction.
These may include the need for a water report to be handed to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and a deal being struck for how construction vehicles will access the site.
