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.

D-day on plans to redevelop “landmark” north-east church

Don Marr of the local heritage society outside Johnshaven Church
Don Marr of the local heritage society outside Johnshaven Church

Councillors will next week decide whether to back redeveloping an Aberdeenshire coastal village’s only church into homes.

Aberdeenshire Council planners are calling for local members to reject proposals to turn the Mearns Coastal Church, on Johnshaven’s Castle Street, into four flats.

Though the local authority says it is “supportive” of plans to retain the building, its roads development team has objected on the grounds of a lack of parking spaces on the streets around it.

The church, opened in 1860, was closed last summer and put on the market by the Church of Scotland.

The application for full planning permission for the development is being referred to the council’s Kincardine and Mearns area committee at the request of councillors George Carr, Jean Dick and Bill Howatson.

The proposals are for two three bedroom flats, one two-bedroom one and another one bedroom one.

Eleven letters of objection and seven in support have been received regarding the application.

Benholm and Johnshaven Heritage Society chairman, Don Marr, said: “It is the parking that is the problem. Johnshaven was only built for horses. There is not enough space.

“The church is no longer being used as a place of worship. It has got to do something. It is a landmark in the village. Housing would be best, it is just the way is is situated. It is on a tight corner.

“The building is an important part of the village’s heritage. It would make a good home, the problem is the parking.”

A council report on the plans said: “The proposed development would ensure the retention of this important building and its continued contribution to the character of conservation area.

“Although the planning service is fully supportive of the re-use of the building including residential, the perceived lack of parking spaces has resulted in an objection from infrastructure services (roads development) which to date, remains unresolved and the application is therefore recommended for refusal.”

Within agent Kerry Smith Architects’ design statement for the proposals, they are described as a “sustainable use for the building”.