At a quiet spot a few miles outside Inverurie, a storm has been brewing for more than a year – with tensions over plans for a new crematorium about to erupt.
Developers earmarked the land for the site at Daviot, arguing the “much-needed” facility will help meet an increasing “conveyor belt” demand for services across Aberdeenshire.
Businessman Fraser Milne, who owns Inverurie Garden Centre, has since become pitted in a war of words against furious villagers determined to stop it being built.
A total of 84 locals penned impassioned letters to the council asking for the scheme to be rejected.
Councillors, however, have thus far been divided on the matter.
And with days until a decision is reached, I headed out to Daviot to meet the leading objectors – and the worried boss of a neighbouring manufacturing plant.
I later put their concerns to an unimpressed Mr Milne, and his team, as they responded to the accusations…
Read on to learn more including:
- Fears long-established family-run business could CLOSE due to noise complaints
- Worries mourners would have to face “race track” B9001 before and after funeral services
- And what the Daviot crematorium developers make of the claims the facility offering views of Bennachie is “bereavement tourism”?
‘At the very moment somebody is saying goodbye to a loved one, we drop a bar of steel…’
The directors of neighbouring Stewart Trailers have been very vocal about their feelings around the proposed crematorium.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, James Stewart told us of his concerns the noise from his premises could ruin poignant moments at the proposed crematorium.
And he fears miffed mourners could complain to the council – ultimately changing how the business operates.
“Our worry is that at the very moment somebody is saying goodbye to a loved one, we drop a bar of steel and there’s a big clatter or a tractor goes roaring past,” he tells me.
“Those two situations will line up at some point.
“The first thing that is going to happen is a phone call to the council complaining about us because we’ve disturbed somebody’s funeral.
“We don’t want to be in that situation because it is one of those moments in life where you need peace and quiet.”
‘It will squash us’
Mr Stewart added: “We process several thousand tonnes of steel every year, so that alone will always create a noise.
“If they start coming to us saying curtail this, that and the next thing, we are no longer going to be able to work efficiently.
“We employ 65 people, there’s another four coming soon, and all of a sudden it puts those jobs at risk…it will squash us.”
Wife Mandy added: “If you’re there for a few minutes of contemplation at the time we are using forklifts and reverse alarms are going off, that’s not going to be ideal.”
So will noise be a crucial factor in the decision?
The Daviot crematorium developers have arranged for noise studies to be carried out.
Special “sound receptors” were in place for a week on the boundary of the crematorium site – where it meets the Stewart Trailers yard.
Results indicated that the vast majority of noise detected came from the B9001 road and not the industrial site.
The report stated that any noise from Stewart Trailers would have an “acceptably low impact” on the proposed crematorium.
And while noise may be heard by mourners outside in the remembrance garden, it would be expected to be at a “low” level.
Meanwhile, it said that sounds from the trailer yard would not be heard inside the crematorium building itself.
Mr Fraser’s solicitor Stephen Park said: “Stewart Trailers should not be inhibited in any way from carrying out their normal business.
“The report would tend to suggest that they won’t be.”
But what about ‘race track’ road?
Another concern Mr Stewart had was around the safety of the B9001, describing the road the crematorium would be built next to as a “race track”.
“There is a constant flow of traffic morning and night, and it is exceedingly fast,” he tells me with a glance across at the rural route.
“We’re right between two blind corners and that junction couldn’t be worse.
“A stacking lane each way is fine but that doesn’t help traffic getting out, the congestion is going to be terrible.”
Mr Stewart added: “There could be up to 1,000 car movements from the crematorium site per day.
“That is absolutely extraordinary on an incredibly busy road and on two blind corners…it just seems to be totally and utterly illogical.”
So what do the council’s road experts think?
But Mr Park was quick to stress that Aberdeenshire Council’s roads team has not objected to the application.
“The road has around 3,700 traffic movements in any 24-hour period,” the solicitor stated.
“For there to be a need to redesign the road, I’m told by specialists that those movements would have to increase to about 13,000.
“The design of the road is perfectly adequate for the volume of traffic that currently uses it.
“Additional traffic generated by visitors to and from the facility will not impact on that in any great way.”
And what did he have to say about mourners leaving the crematorium?
“You’re going to have 60-100 cars perhaps at any one time attending a service, but these cars are just going to form a queue inside the site.”
Does the north-east NEED another crematorium?
Objectors on my visit argued that there wasn’t a great need for a new crematorium as there are already sites in Aberdeen, Crathes and Buckie.
It was also noted that plans were approved for a further facility in Chapelton two years ago.
They questioned where this need for a further crematorium came from, suggesting there would be “massive capacity” if the Daviot site goes ahead.
But, developers claim that demand is restricted by the lack of supply and claimed people are having to wait several weeks to get a cremation slot.
Mr Park said Daviot would be “imperative” for reducing waiting times and the forecasted increase in the death rate over the next 10 years.
“If we don’t do it now then it will become more problematic in time,” he said.
“If you provide the facility then demand for cremation will increase.
“It will increase because burial lairs are expensive, lots of cemeteries are not being extended and so there will be pressure on lair space.”
Developers also expect people will travel to Daviot not only from Aberdeen, but Peterhead, Fraserburgh and more outlying areas.
“Within three to four years, we would expect the facility to be fully operational,” Mr Park revealed.
“It will provide a much-needed facility for people within the region as a whole.”
So why does it need to be at Daviot?
Objectors also took issue with the site the proposed crematorium would be built on.
They say other locations would be more beneficial.
Trailer firm boss Mr Stewart said: “You would imagine because of the AWPR and the A90, Ellon would now be the prime place because it would suit the north-east.
“Undertakers want as short a journey time as possible and for them, it’s far easier to go to Hazlehead or Banchory instead of trundling all the way across here.”
But, this wasn’t the only problem with the selected site…
Villager weighs in on plans for quiet community
Resident Barry Howard explained: “Developers mentioned the beautiful views of Bennachie but there was no mention of it being next to an industrial site.
“I’ve been to several funerals recently and I wasn’t really focused on the views, I was focused on the grief and the loss of the person that was being cremated.
“I wasn’t looking around thinking ‘this is beautiful, I’m glad I came’.
“You’re not there to look at the views.”
Dr Lorraine Howard added: “Hazlehead was built as a duty and a service to provide cremations for people who lived across the Grampian region which is why it has such a high capacity.
“These ones that are being built for profit are totally different, they are selling bereavement tourism.”
‘It will be as unobtrusive as possible’
However, developers argued the case for building the crematorium on the Daviot site.
Mr Park fired back: “If you are going to fund and develop a site of this size and nature, would you not logically develop it on land that you already control instead of investing a million pounds acquiring a piece of land from someone else?
“It’s more than half a kilometre away from the village, there will be mature landscaping in the fullness of time, and there’s a sedum roof which will allow it to blend in to the natural environment.
“Every possible step that can be taken to make the facility as unobtrusive as possible is being taken and has been thought of.”
While Mr Milne added: “Yes it’s my land and it’s our business, but the reality is we aren’t going to create our own eyesore – we live there too.
“We’ve taken steps to ensure it’s integrated into the surroundings and these issues will arise wherever crematoriums are sought to be built.”
What are the Daviot crematorium developers’ thoughts on ‘bereavement tourism’?
Addressing claims the site was “selling bereavement tourism”, Mr Park started by comparing the existing facilities across the region.
“Within Hazlehead there is no natural light into rooms where ceremonies take place, at Baldarroch there is very narrow roof lights,” he recalled.
“Because of the very extensive glass wall looking on to Bennachie at this facility, that will add value to a service.
“You want it to be as nice and uplifting as an experience as it possibly can be.”
He stressed that capitalising on the scenic view of Bennachie to make money out of bereavements was “not really the motive for doing this”.
Mr Park added: “The motive is to create a facility that people feel that they would want to go to in their time.
“People don’t regard going to a funeral as a tourist activity.”
Would ‘toxic’ fumes harm Daviot crematorium developers too?
The final point Daviot residents were keen to raise was the “very toxic chemicals” that could be produced from the crematorium and blown across the village.
Ken Gordon said there was a “huge concern” about the effect this would have on the primary school and other community buildings, as well as people living there.
He also feared the toxins would be especially harmful to children living in Daviot.
But the developers don’t believe this will be an issue, as they have already been granted a licence from Sepa that will monitor the cremator and emissions.
Taking these concerns on board, Mr Park replied: “The science does not support that view. If it did, there would be no prospect of SEPA issuing a licence.
“There will be no dust popping out of a chimney, there will probably be vapours and gasses.
“The key question of the objection was whether it would carry harmful emissions over the village – there is no prospect of that whatsoever.”
The solicitor also revealed that the facility would be designed and built not only for today’s standards, but for those expected to be in place by 2028.
Making her point, Mr Milne’s wife Janelle stated: “We live in the vicinity of the crematorium, why would we put ourselves in danger?”
What happens next?
The facility’s fate is expected to be decided by members of the infrastructure services committee when they meet on March 13.
Mr Park added: “The message that we want to put across to anyone who is concerned about this application is that we will be a good neighbour and a responsible operator.
“Even if perhaps objectors are not completely persuaded by the evidence that we have assembled, we stand behind it.”
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