Plans to build a block of flats in the woodland behind Inverurie Police Station have been rejected.
Police Scotland lodged plans to build nine two-bedroom flats in a three-storey block on land located next to the police station in Blackhall Road in September.
To make way for the development, 61 trees would have had to be chopped down.
The proposal formed part of the force’s wider programme to dispose of land and unused premises across the country as the result of an estates review.
Planning agents Graham+Sibbald had submitted a request to Aberdeenshire Council for feedback on potential development of the site, with two ideas originally mooted: a nine-flat residential scheme or a commercial drive-thru development.
The former was recommended, but now Aberdeenshire Council has rejected the project.
Officers state in their refusal notice: “The applicant has not satisfactorily demonstrated a public, economic or social benefit that outweighs the loss of the area designated as ancient woodland and has not demonstrated that there is no reasonable alternative site for the development.
“The indicative siting of the proposed flatted development and associated works are unacceptable and the planning service has no confidence based on the information available that the site can accommodate this level of development resulting in concerns with the potential visual impact of the building and impact on the character of the area.”