A Mearns caravan park will close later this year after it was granted planning permission to become a small housing development.
Three new homes will be built at Brownmuir Caravan Park at Fordoun and its toilet block will also be turned into a home. There is already a manager’s house on the site.
The permission, granted by Kincardine and Mearns area committee, is conditional on the site being vacant before work begins.
Mearns councillor George Carr described the park’s closure as a loss to tourism.
He said: “The loss of a tourist site in the Mearns area is regrettable. However, the committee had to take the personal situation of the owner of the site into consideration.
“The owner wishes to retire and does not have any family members who want to take over the business.”
Brownmuir Caravan Park, situated between the Howe of the Mearns and the Garvock Hills near Laurencekirk, attracts hundreds of visitors to its facility every year.
It has space for 11 motor homes, 20 hook-ups, 49 static caravans and also includes a children’s play area.
The application was recommended for refusal by the council’s director of infrastructure, Stephen Archer, who stated the plan did not meet the council’s policy on brownfield developments.
The guidelines state that the site must be disused before permission is granted. A site visit showed the caravan park to be busy.
It was suggested in his report that applicant June Bowers run down the site before re-applying.
However, councillors got around this by stipulating that the site should be empty before work starts.
Mr Carr added: “Everyone on the committee was quite sympathetic towards the owner’s situation and so we were glad we could come up with an agreement.
“The park will close at the end of October and then there will be some time given to clear the site of caravans.
“The site will then be redundant and I believe the owner of the site will sell off the land to developers to allow them to build housing.”