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.

Judge rules in favour of Queen’s cousin in Elsick dispute

Post Thumbnail

The Queen’s cousin has won a developer contribution battle with two local authorities which will slash his bill from £8million to just £287.000.

The Duke of Fife – the landowner behind the 4,000-home Chapelton of Elsick development in Aberdeenshire – went to court to argue the cash demand was unlawful.

And his victory could have implications for council across Scotland.

Lawyers acting for the duke’s Elsick Development Company (EDC) went to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to challenge the bid to make it pay for infrastructure improvements.

The EDC and Chapelton landowners had been involved in the dispute with Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Authority (SDPA) since 2013.

The organisation wanted them to pay millions towards a new bridge over the River Dee and a train station at Kintore.

Lawyers acting for the EDC said the firm was already investing in developing Chapelton of Elsick and should not be liable to pay for other projects.

In a written judgment, Scotland’s most senior judge Lord Carloway ruled in favour of the company.

Elaine Farquharson-Black, a partner at Burness Paull, who acted for EDC in the challenge, said: “EDC has already invested over £1million in a new roundabout at Newtonhill, hundreds of thousands of pounds improving the A90, as well as a new community bus service and park and ride at Newtonhill.

“As Chapelton grows, a further £12million has been earmarked for a new grade-separated junction on the A90.”

But last night, the decision was met with an angry reaction by the SDPA, with a source saying they were considering appealing to the Supreme Court.

Joint chairman of the SDPA, Peter Argyle, said: “I thought we had a very good case and are very disappointed that the verdict has gone against us.

“Clearly the SDPA and the city and Aberdeenshire councils will be looking at the details of the judgment before we decide on the next course to follow.”