Knife-edge Council vote green lights 64 home Pitmedden development
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
WORK on building 64 homes in Pitmedden is to start after a close Council vote.
The Formartine Area Committee today (November 8) rolled back a previous condition on the Bonnyton Farm development, which now only needs one access route.
The scrapped condition required two access routes to be improved before work started on the 4.5 hectare site.
Normally Aberdeenshire's planning rules require developments of this size to have two permanent access routes for traffic.
Applicant Kirkwood Homes Ltd asked Council officers to make an exception and said they have tried every option and only one access route is possible.
Planning permission for the homes was granted after a 2020 appeal, however the committee turned down the developer's attempt to reopen the junction between Ingleside and the B999 – which would have created a second access road.
The decision, due to road safety worries, means the development has since lay dormant.
However, after the latest vote, developers have permission to make Croftland Road the only route in or out of the new development, with removable bollards providing emergency access on Edmonside and Bonnyton Road.
The decision came after councillors voted 6-5 in its favour.
Council officers recommended the plan go ahead based on their own research and the views of experts, however local councillor Paul Johnston submitted a motion to deny permission.
This was then seconded by Councillor Jenny Nicol.
Committee chairman Councillor Iain Taylor opted for an amendment to let plans go ahead, backed up by seconder Councillor John Crawley.
Local councillors were concerned about increased traffic in the area, despite Council projections claiming that homeowners at the new development would only bring 48 cars, for 64 homes.
Councillor Derek Ritchie said the number could be as high as 250 cars and argued that limited access could lead to traffic chaos in the area.
He said: "It's okay saying it will be another 43 cars, but we all know it won't be 43.
"It could actually be double that, or it could be four times that.
"This is a busy, busy road and at peak times it is a bit of a nightmare.
"That is when an accident would happen.
"From a safety point of view it is a deep, deep concern."
Planning officer Anne Ramsay cited the Council's and development's road reports in response.
She said: "The road safety review fully assessed the impact of the development on all road users and it concluded that there are no outstanding road safety issues or concerns."
Head of planning and economy Paul Macari took members to task for criticising the information officers used to make their recommendation, saying they were doubting the professionalism of roads engineers.
He said: "All the information is provided by professionally accredited roads engineers.
"The engineers also visit the site.
"In terms of the discussion and some of the comments that were made, I would just like to highlight that these comments are eroding that professionalism.
"I think we have to bear that in mind that they are professionally qualified engineers who provide this information to the Council."
Udny Community Council secretary Colin Duncan also spoke at the meeting.
He said that local experience showed the B999 is plagued with traffic and speeding worries and that he had serious concerns over road safety.
The members who voted for the amendment, and for moving development forward, were Cllr Crawley, Councillor Isobel Davidson, Councillor Alastair Forsyth, Councillor Gordon Lang, Councillor Anne Stirling and Cllr Taylor.
Votes for the motion, and against the development, were Councillor Andrew Hassan, Cllr Johnston, Councillor Louise McAllister, Cllr Nicol and Councillor Derek Ritchie.
