The next phase of a 1,067-home Aberdeenshire development has been approved – bringing 31 affordable properties to one of the region’s biggest towns.
Barratt Homes North’s proposal for 64 homes at Uryside, Inverurie, was backed by Aberdeenshire Council’s Garioch area committee yesterday morning.
However moments later councillors put plans for a 49-home development near Kemnay – 24 of which would have been affordable homes – on hold.
The committee had been asked by council officers to refuse Deveron Homes Ltd’s application for Cairn View, but members have delayed their decision pending a visit to the site.
Three west Garioch councillors local to Kemnay – Patricia Oddie, Sheena Lonchay and Allison Grant – were unable to attend yesterday’s meeting, prompting Inverurie councillor Bryan Stuart to defer the decision.
He said: “Landscape impact in the proposals seems to be a major issue. My view is we would be better placed to discuss the virtues having had a better feel for the site.”
The plan – which would be an extension of the firm’s current Cairn View site in Kemnay – received 36 objections and four letters of support.
The site is not allocated for housing within the 2012 Aberdeenshire local development plan (LDP), and part of it is within an area designated for the protection of local art installation, the Place of Origin.
A spokeswoman for developers Deveron Homes Ltd said: “We remain committed to social cohesion on our developments and the provision of 24 affordable homes on the new phase would be of great benefit to the local community.
“The proposed development is also adjacent to Place of Origin, a fascinating and unique public amenity.
“Our existing public art feature forms the centrepiece of our development at Cairn View and has been specifically designed to compliment the Place of Origin.”
The plan will be discussed at the next meeting of the Garioch area committee on Tuesday, December 1.