Plans for a major office development on the fringes of an Aberdeenshire town will go before councillors next week.
Full planning permission is being sought for the development of an office, workshop and car park at Midmill, Kintore.
The development is required so that an oil firm – said earlier this year to be National Oilwell Varco – can move seven miles from neighbouring Westhill.
Aberdeenshire Council’s Garioch area committee are being asked to approve the proposals – which were backed on a delegated grant earlier this year.
The developer behind the plans, Inverurie-based Malcolm Allan Housebuilders, say the proposals would lead to 340 jobs being moved to the area.
The location – on former farmland – was allocated within the 2012 Aberdeenshire local development plan (LDP).
The proposals will bring upgrades to the nearby Broomhill roundabout and a signalised junction at Tumulus Way.
However, the development will be progressed without a contribution to the strategic transport fund (STF) following a recent court case.
The Duke of Fife – the landowner behind the Chapelton of Elsick development near Newtonhill – went to the Court of Session earlier this year, challenging an £8million developer contribution bill.
He argued the cash demand was unlawful, and the court upheld his claim and slashed the bill to just £287,000.
The Elsick Development Company (EDC) and Chapelton landowners had been involved in the dispute with Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Authority (SDPA) since 2013.
Both councils are now appealing the decision, meaning STF contributions cannot be sought from developers.
The council’s director of infrastructure services, Stephen Archer, said: “In order to progress applications during the period whilst the appeal process continues, an option is available for applicants to review their transport assessments (or) statements to demonstrate that they can mitigate any strategic and local transport issues before they can commence development was agreed.
“The applicant was willing to undertake this and has submitted additional information. This information has shown that the traffic generated from the proposed development is considered to have no strategic impact requiring mitigation.”