The decision on whether an Orange walk will go ahead in Stonehaven this weekend will be made on Friday.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court is set to hear an appeal from the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland after Kincardine and Mearns area committee councillors unanimously rejected plans for a parade on Saturday March 16.
They cited concerns over undue strain on the police force, the impact on local businesses and the “anxiety” felt by the community over the proposed march.
Representatives for the Orange Order said they were “disappointed but not surprised” by the decision.
If overturned, the controversial march will take place the next day.
Around 200 people are expected to attend the parade, to celebrate the opening of a new Orange Lodge in the town.
If it goes ahead, it will be led by Pride of the Rock flute band, starting at Stonehaven Town Hall and concluding at Dunottar Castle.
The new branch will be known as Dunnottar Martyrs Memorial LOL 1685.
Controversy over Orange Lodge in Stonehaven
The news of an Orange Lodge opening in Stonehaven prompted a 10,000-strong petition which urged councillors to “put the peace, unity and welfare of our community first”.
Neil Young, who started the petition, previously said: “The Orange Order tried to present opposition to its march as having been ‘whipped up’, but that’s a fiction and a smear.
“The people of Stonehaven and its environs rallied and said overwhelmingly that they do not want this imported sectarian parade, with all the attendant risks of violence, damage and destruction.”
An online petition has also been set up by The Foundation UK calling for the “right to protest”.
It states: “We want the right of expression and freedom of protest.
“We want all people to be allowed to protest peacefully with their views, and we see what Aberdeenshire Council is doing is against this.”
In a statement, the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland described the authority’s decision as being “anti-Protestantism” and the “demonisation of our Protestant culture”.
A spokesman for The Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland said: “The Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland are hopeful that our appeal to the sherrif court will be successful and that new lodge Dunnottar Martyrs Lodge 1685 will be able to have a peaceful procession to celebrate the opening of their new lodge and remember the covenanting martyrs who were imprisoned and died in Dunnottar Castle.”
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