Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Football club urges council to reject ‘dark cloud’ Banff Morrisons plans

Deveronvale Community FC say there has "been a dark cloud over Canal Park for too long".

Banff Morrisons plans could see a football pitch destroyed.
Banff Morrisons plans could see a football pitch destroyed. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

A north-east football club is urging Aberdeenshire Council to stop Morrisons paving over their park for a new Banff supermarket.

Kevin Stewart, the chairman of the Deveronvale Community FC youth side, is pleading with elected members to reject the plans for Canal Park.

After years of debate, the local authority is being asked to reach a decision on the proposal on Tuesday.

Officials have called for it to be refused over traffic and flooding fears, but Banff and Buchan councillors could defy the recommendation and vote it through.

A artist's impression of how the Banff Morrisons could look
Banff Morrisons plans are recommended for refusal, and football bosses are pleading councillors to show them the red card. Image: Morrisons

Football boss’s plea to save park

Kevin Stewart, the chairman of Deveronvale Community FC and Hub, is pleading with the committee to “lift the dark cloud” that has been hanging over the park.

He said: “There has been a dark cloud hanging over this site for far too long.

“We are just one of the football clubs using this site weekly, but we are the largest voluntary organisation in our community – providing opportunities for our grassroots players to participate in sport as well as supporting families in our community.

“We do hope that our councillors refuse the planning application and lift the dark cloud once and for all.”

Banff Rovers previously railed against the plans too.

The Banff Rovers side training at Canal Park.
The Banff Rovers side at Canal Park. Image: Wullie Marr/DC Thomson

‘We fear we may be overlooked’

Rachel Kennedy, who leads the Save Our Canal Park campaign group, said it’s also a “well-used space” for dog walkers and recreation.

She added: “Banff is located on the coast and we have already seen more flooding than usual this winter.

“But we fear that residents wishes will be overlooked.”

An aerial view of the Banff football pitches
The Morrisons would be built on the football pitch just along from Banff Bridge. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Since the plans were lodged, 185 locals have written to the council calling for them to be refused.

But are some people in favour of the supermarket plans?

However, many in Banff say the planned Morrisons would boost the town centre – while offering a better range of groceries and value for money.

Businessman Scott Birnie previously told us that saying no to the retail giant would “send the message that we are this backwater that don’t want big firms coming”.

The director of the Good Sleep Company bed shop was one of 183 residents to write to the council backing Morrisons’ vision.

His letter states: “I feel it will bring many shoppers to the area and improve upon the offering that is already here, particularly for fuel.”

Scott Birnie of the Good Sleep Company
Scott Birnie runs the Good Sleep Company in Banff.

Do you think the Morrisons plans should be approved? Let us know in our comments section below


The new store would bring an estimated 175 jobs to the area, and it is understood the land would be sold for more than £1 million.

Brenda Ledger, from Macduff, wrote: “Banff would definitely benefit from a large supermarket with all the different shopping facilities that Morrisons can offer.

“I also feel that this would generate employment/jobs for the town.”

You can see the plans here.

Conversation