NEWTONHILL GREENBELT BOUNDARY APPROVED
LOCAL councillors have approved a new greenbelt boundary around Newtonhill.
At the Kincardine and Mearns area committee meeting this week councillors agreed to a proposal that will see the greenbelt area around Newtonhill extended south towards Muchalls and will protect the land to the east of the Causey Mounth Road from new developments.
It will also stop further developments being built near the Badentoy area of Portlethen.
The greenbelt proposal put before councillors at the area committee meeting last month was put back to council planning officers to extend the boundary west and offer more protection to Cammachmore.
North Kincardineshire councillor Carl Nelson said he liked the new proposal as it incorporated East Cammachmore and protected the surrounding properties from the Elsick development. He added: "I'm quite happy to go along with this, it is the sensible thing to do."
However councillor Mike Sullivan raised his concerns that by approving the new greenbelt design the developers of the Elsick new town would face restrictions. He said: "What concerns me is there has been an extension of the greenbelt westwards (of the Causey Mounth) which would impact on what is likely to be Elsick."
He added that he wanted assurance before approving this design that the developers of Elsick will not be turned down if they wanted to build on the land. He continued: "The master plan of Elsick must take precedence over all other things."
Aberdeenshire Council planning officer Piers Blaxster said he could not give a "cast iron" guarantee that developments in the Elsick master plan, such as a new secondary school, would not meet opposition.
However he added councillors would have the final decision on whether or not to build on greenbelt land.
Chairman councillor Paul Melling said they were in an "interesting situation". He added: "We are trying to determine what greenbelt boundaries will be so we can get the Local Development Plan finalised, but on the other hand we don't want to impose too much of a restriction on the development of Elsick."
Councillors voted six to five in favour of the original proposal.
Speaking after the meeting North Kincardine councillor Ian Mollison said he was "disappointed" in the decision. He said: "I thought the concerns being expressed were answered by officials and that the plans of the Elsick development would not have been compromised.
"I was more than pleased with the new report but unfortunately the majority of my colleagues didn't agree."
He continued: "I would advise residents in the area to participate as fully as possible in opportunities that come along when the Elsick developers are discussing their plans. They have offered a Charette, which means a discussion with interested people, on how to master plan the new town. I would urge people to take full advantage of that and go along, in a positive way, to see how they can influence matters so there is a good outcome for everybody. I'm sure there will be, but the greenbelt provision would have given added security.
"The one concern that other councillors had was that green belt would inhibit any development, but that is not the case. It would always have been in the gift of councillors to decide there could be an exception, and it certainly would have sent a strong message to keep the communities apart which is vital if you wish to retain an individual community spirit. I think that is important as you don't want one spread of concrete and tar from the Bridge of Don down to Stonehaven.
"It is a setback but we just have to look forward and do the best we can."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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