Aberdeenshire Council has said it would not be in the public interest to pursue legal action against the owners of a proposed kennel.
Michelle Wood applied for planning permission last year to convert five buildings on her land at East Mains of Ardlogie, near Fyvie, into kennels.
But a decision on whether she can has been deferred twice to allow for council officers to gather more information on the site amid concerns from locals that the land had previously been used as an illegal puppy farm.
A petition has also been signed more than 3,000 times by campaigners in an attempt to have the plans scrapped.
Concerns had been raised about the tidiness of the proposed site and its impact on the local water supply.
Miss Wood has been told this week, however, that she is unlikely to face legal action after council officers visited the site for themselves.
A report by the local authority’s planning enforcement team has found that caravans which had previously been on the site had been removed and that although the land “remains in an untidy condition” it does not breach any planning regulation.
A spokesman said the council could serve an enforcement notice on the land to have it cleaned but would require a budget to undertake the works itself, before then pursuing the matter as a civil debt with the landowner.
“The cost to the council – and ultimately the public purse – would be considerable in the event that direct action had to be pursued and recouping this money from an itinerant tenant through civil legal proceedings would be a lengthy process involving further costs,” he added.
“It is unlikely the council would be fully reimbursed and questionable whether the return justifies the investment.”
Senior planning officer Alan Davidson had recommended to councillors that the buildings be granted planning permission.
If approved, a breeding licence would have to be obtained by the owner.
The Scottish SPCA and other animal welfare groups raised fears when a bid was made to secure a breeding licence for the remote site last year.
It was submitted by Elizabeth James, three of whose family members were prosecuted for keeping dogs in appalling conditions there.
