The man sent by the Scottish Government to scrutinise a controversial Travellers site in St Cyrus has been told “don’t let this be a fait accompli”.
Reporter Rob Huntley came to North Esk Park yesterday as the latest stage of an investigation into whether the site, which sprang up virtually overnight in 2013 without planning permission, should be allowed to remain intact.
Residents of St Cyrus were told they were “welcome to attend” and the park was open to the public while Mr Huntley investigated the site.
His visit came after Scottish Ministers “called in” a retrospective application for planning permission when flooding issues were raised by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
Mr Huntley told the group, which included site owner William Macdonald, park residents, representatives of SEPA, and Aberdeenshire Council: “My purpose today is not to listen to any further representations.
“I’ve read everything that’s been submitted by all parties, including those made to the council when they were considering the application.
“I’ve been here before and, superficially at least, the site looks very similar.
“At that stage I wasn’t concerned with the issues to do with an application for planning permission, it was enforcement, so the things I need to look at today are different.”
North Esk Park has substantially expanded since the first temporary homes appeared in September 2013, and Aberdeenshire councillors voted overwhelmingly in favour of granting permission for the creation as an official halting and touring site in April.
The owners applied for retrospective permission, which was approved due to a lack of other sites for Travellers in the council’s Kincardine and Mearns ward.
But the application was called in after SEPA confirmed the site had flooded in 2002, 2012, 2013 and in the aftermath of Storm Frank on December 30, 2015, when residents had to leave their caravans because of rising water levels.
One St Cyrus resident, who requested anonymity, blamed Aberdeenshire Council for the park’s growth while the issue dragged on.
He said: “It will be a hard job to dismantle it if the Ministers decide it’s not a safe place to live. But this will establish a precedent across Scotland if they don’t.
“I hope Mr Huntley’s report helps them avert a fait accompli.”
The report is anticipated to go before Ministers by the end of January 2017.