A north-east town centre was designated a conservation area last night after councillors backed a £5million redevelopment programme.
It is hoped the new status will prevent private owners of buildings in Fraserburgh from drastically altering their frontages without consent, and open up new avenues of grant funding for maintenance.
But concerns were raised over a flagship project to redevelop Broad Street’s Council Chambers and former police station after it was revealed that the authority had not yet purchased the station from its private owner.
At yesterday’s meeting of Aberdeenshire Council’s Banff and Buchan area committee, the local authority’s project officer, Ian Rogan, told members that work on these buildings would not take place for another six to eight months.
Fraserburgh councillor Brian Topping said he was “disappointed” by the delay.
He said: “A lot of people in the town were excited by the proposals. I’m very, very concerned. This is a building that is sitting boarded-up.”
It is hoped the building will refurbished and brought back into use as a business centre, a plan first backed by councillors in March last year.
Councillor Topping added: “It’s taken a year already and now we’re told that it could be another six to eight months more.
“It is such a central part of regeneration. It’s very sad. Everything seems to be taking an extraordinarily long time.”
Fellow Fraserburgh councillor Charles Buchan also said he was worried by the delay.
“I am pretty disappointed it has taken so long,” he said.
But George Esslemont, however, a local community council member, told the Press and Journal he was confident that the plan would eventually come good.
“We’re aware they’re negotiating things. It will be great when they get the funding pulled together,” he said.
“Needless to say, it will be an excellent thing for the town.”
Funding for the conservation programme is being sought from Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund.