| Date -05 Dec 2007 | Return to previous page |
Moray councillors today narrowly rejected plans for 122 houses and apartments on the site of a derelict Buckie shipyard.
Planning officials had recommended approval of Dawkins (Buckie) Ltd’s application to develop the shoreline site close to the local harbour.
But members of the council’s environmental services committee turned down the application by seven votes to six.
A petition opposing the proposal was submitted by residents living in the area, along with a large number of individual letters of objection.
Many of the objectors referred to the scale and density of the proposed development as well as issues relating to access and car parking.
Councillor Allan Wright, joint chairman of the committee, supported the officials’ recommendation, adding that the proposal presented an ideal opportunity for housing development in Buckie.
He was backed by Councillor Alastair Bisset, who said: “We are screaming out for development in and around Buckie harbour.”
Among councillors opposed to the application were Buckie members Anne McKay and Gordon McDonald, who cited the scale of the development and its density in terms of the number of units.
Councillor McKay said local residents were not opposed to the site being developed, only the density of the proposal.