Railway buffs have failed to halt a Brechin housing development after accusing council officials of ignoring a national report warning of the potential danger of having homes next to the working attraction.
A leading Caledonian Railway figure claimed the national guidance highlighted the risk of vehicles rolling on to railways and said the group had “significant concerns” over the potentially catastrophic consequences of someone crashing onto a busy platform and the railway lines beyond.
But councillors voted to extend the extant permission for the eight-house plan, despite an attempt by one local member to speed up the development by limiting the extension to one year.
Approval for the former builder’s yard was originally given in 2009 but the impact of the recession on the housing industry has led to the 0.4 hectare site continuing to lie empty.
Dr Stephen Pegg, a director of the popular Caledonian Railway, told the committee: “We are not objecting to the development of this site per se, we just do not believe that this is the appropriate development for it.
“The site slopes towards the railway and is at very high risk of vehicles rolling off the site and into railway land.
“The boundary proposed is an acoustic boundary and not a technical boundary and I don‘t see that any risk assessment has taken place.”
Applicant Carberry Developments said they did not think it was appropriate for the railway group to “hold local people to ransom”.
“We should get on with developing this site, but would probably have to sell it simply because the banks have withdrawn support to small builders such as ourselves.”
Brechin councillor Mairi Evans proposed a reduction in the planning permission extension from three years to one, commenting: “This is a very difficult one, it is an incredible amount of time to have left this lying there doing nothing.
“We can’t refuse it because it is allocated for housing in the local plan, so our hands are tied.
“Housing being there is the best potential for it but I don’t think we should allow this to go on for much longer.”
Councillor Alex King said: “This was a well-intentioned application in 2009, the recession adversely affected the company and if we extend this for three years that gives a reasonable period for this company to find somebody to buy the site.
“But I think we should be asking for some reasonable tidying up along the frontage of Park Road.”
Councillors voted 8-3 to extend the permission for a further three years.