Good news. Finally Scottish Government Reporters have given their verdict on where development should and should not take place in Aberdeenshire.

Aberdeenshire Council submitted its draft Local Plan some 15 months ago after it was agreed by councillors, and Reporters have been scrutinising the proposals. The outcome will be accepted by the council as there is little choice in the matter.

I was always a bit worried that the Reporters would overturn the views of councillors and approve further development between Newtonhill and Muchalls. After all Scottish Ministers did give the go-ahead for the current Barratt development, setting aside the opposition of local councillors and some 600 objections.

However, as you will see below, Reporters have agreed that there should be no further development between Newtonhill and Muchalls.

My thanks to Michael Morgan, the past chair of Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore Community Council, for publicising this.

On the community council’s Facebook page he writes: “The Scottish Government reporters have published their final report into the examination of the Proposed Local Development Plan.

“Their recommendation for Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore is to uphold Aberdeenshire Council’s decision to not allocate any sites for house building. This means, that once Barratt have completed the 121 houses they are building on the moor, there will be no more house building for the duration of the plan (to 2027).

“The planning authority is required to accept the reporters’ recommendations except in instances where there are specific reasons for not doing so as set out in Section 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended) and in the Town and Country Planning (Grounds for Declining to Follow Recommendations Regulations) (Scotland) 2009.

“The next step is for Aberdeenshire Council to incorporate the reporters’ recommendations into the Proposed Local Development Plan and present it to the Full Council for approval.”

If you want more information such as the Reporters’ recommendations for each issue, click on this link to the DPEA website: https://www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk/CaseDetails.aspx?id=121481

On entering the website, click on the “Examination Report” tab and then, under the “Document Name” heading, click on the blue highlighted “Report of Examination” document.

Alternatively, go to the council’s website: https://aberdeenshire.gov.uk/planning/plans-and-policies/pldp-2020/?fbclid=IwAR1hqPxTsG6FF4NJBNnIDCFBNXrrOF9oOU7_gLg4zZ6CObju8KNno5L5XLs