Fears have been raised that a new entrance added to a north-east quarry for water sport enthusiasts could result in people sneaking in.
For the first time in decades, Rubislaw Quarry has been made accessible to the public as canoeing sessions at the scenic spot are being offered by Adventure Aberdeen.
The activities have proven to be successful with people of all ages, with tickets for the weekend sessions selling out well into October.
But questions have arisen about work to demolish a section of wall on Queen’s Road, and the creation of new steps up a small hill leading into the site.
Hazlehead, Queen’s Cross and Countesswells councillor, Martin Greig, was contacted by a constituent who flagged concerns that the council did not grant permission for the work.
Mr Greig, who stressed that he was “neutral on the matter” and only following up the inquiry, said: “A resident had contacted me and said they could not find a planning application online and wanted to know if it required permission or not.
“I was also asked about the safety of using the quarry for this.”
Mr Greig said the steps, which make the site more accessible for people attending canoe sessions, have sparked “worries about unsupervised visits to the quarry” among residents.
The owner of the landmark, Hugh Black, last night expressed his astonishment that people had taken exception to the changes.
Mr Black said a planning application was not submitted to Aberdeen City Council as he didn’t believe it would be necessary.
The businessman said: “I don’t know if putting in a few steps is classed as building anything.
“For example if I was putting steps in my back garden, I wouldn’t need planning permission for that.
“This isn’t something that’s been mentioned to me, all we were trying to do was make the access into the quarry safer.
“As far as we’re concerned, we haven’t done anything wrong and we haven’t been contacted to say it’s a problem.”
Addressing concerns about safety and potential unauthorised visits, Mr Black pointed out that the new steps lead to a security fence.
He added: “We’ve had a really good weekend, people who have taken part in the water sports have said it’s brilliant.”
The historic site, which is Europe’s largest man-made hole, is filled with 460ft of water.
On Saturday, Adventure Aberdeen launched the new water sport programme there.
Speaking ahead of the launch, its head of sport and active communities, Graeme Dale, hinted that he would be keen to offer more pursuits there in the future.
He said: “There are lots of water activities that you could do here, and we will be looking to see how we can introduce them into a programme.”