The saga of North Esk Park has taken a fresh twist after some councillors spoke in favour of the illegal Travellers’ site on the Aberdeenshire/Angus border.
Constructed in what a meeting of the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee heard described as a “period of frenetic activity” around September 2013, the unauthorised site near St Cyrus is now home to more than 60 residents, including seriously ill and pregnant members of the Travelling community.
Since then, the unauthorised development has been fought out in the council chamber and the sheriff court, with consideration of two retrospective applications for the permanent and touring elements of the site next to Eskview Farm back before area councillors in Stonehaven.
Their views will be taken into account at a meeting of the full Aberdeenshire Council next month.
There were refusal recommendations for the linked plans from officials.
However, the committee only voted 8-2 for refusal, some councillors speaking out in favour of the site.
Breach of policy, drainage issues and amenity interests were all highlighted by planning chiefs. However, their major objection relates to the flood risk associated with the site.
A planning official told the committee: “There is no doubt there is a social need for the provision of sites for Gypsy/Travellers in Aberdeenshire and recent discussion identified a need for at least one site in each of the north, central and south areas.
“Fundamentally, this site is on a functional flood plain that is at risk of flooding and no satisfactory mitigation can be applied.”
Mearns councillor Bill Howatson said there was a genuine risk to the safety of the Travellers from floodwaters.
“This could be a very emotive issue but it is a planning application we are dealing with … for work that was done without a sliver of permission,” said Mr Howatson.
He said flood events in the area were “not a figment of our imagination but a stark reality”.
“We as a planning authority simply can’t have any part in putting people at risk on a flood plain it is an absolute no-brainer.
“We would be grossly negligent in our duty, given the human element, to even consider putting anyone at risk here.
“More fundamentally, the site is outwith the settlement boundary and it cannot be classed as a redevelopment since it was formerly a greenfield site until September 2013.
“This whole thing has been rigorously examined and I think it is time to move forward.”
He added: “There are clearly lessons for all of us from this saga, not least the council on how it deploys its enforcement policies.
“It should never have happened in the first place but it has happened.
“I have no doubt about the fact that there’s not enough Travellers’ provision but I believe the view of the council should be that it should be refused.
“We should not be persuaded by a mirage of semantics to give permission to a site that’s on a flood plain,” he concluded.
However, the case for more careful consideration was led by North Kincardine councillor Alison Evison.
She noted the authority’s own housing, social work and roads departments had not objected to applications.
“You cannot see the site from the road it is not dominating the landscape in the way it is being suggested,” she said.
“Where I agree totally that we cannot have lives put at risk, we have also heard that conditions could be put in place that look more closely at the flooding issue.”
Mearns councillor Jean Dick added: “The way I see it is that the Travellers have provided what Aberdeenshire Council failed to provide.”