A court date has been set for a legal battle between a community of traditional fishermen and a landowner who wants to evict them from an historic Aberdeen harbour.
Vessels have been berthed within the small natural bay of Cove Harbour for generations.
But since last summer, the owners of the around 11 boats that still remain have been locked in an ongoing conflict with a
surgeon who now owns the land.
Pralhad Kolhe, who lives in the white house overlooking the harbour, has put in place a number of preventative measures to obstruct the fishermen’s ability to access their boats, including large boulders, rubble, barricades and signs as part of his efforts to evict them.
But the Cove Fishermen’s Association has vowed to fight against Mr Kolhe, and they will face him in court for initial proceedings on January 19, with further court dates earmarked for February and March.
Jim Adam, the chairman of the association, said: “We’ve had a good few delays, we were meant to go to court in the last quarter of 2016, but we’ve finally got a date set for the procedural hearing.
“We were a bit annoyed that it dragged on so long, there’s definitely an element of frustration among the fishermen, so we’re very glad that we’re now making progress and moving forward.
“We’re still going ahead, and we’re still optimistic.”
An online petition backing the fishermen’s cause has so far attracted more than 11,000 signatures, and members of the Cove community and beyond have held a number of fundraisers to help pay the association’s legal fees.
But because of the delays in proceedings, the fishermen have launched an online fundraising drive to help fill their coffers ahead of the legal battle.
“But as you can imagine, with these delays and so on, and having to prepare a defence, these legal expenses are getting really horrific, so we’re in need of a lot of help.
“So because of that we’ve launched another crowdfunder campaign to try and raise us some more cash.
“We’ve not heard anything back from Kolhe as of yet.”
Anyone wishing to support the campaign can visit www.home.38degrees.org.uk and search for “Cove Fishermen”.
Mr Kolhe declined to comment last night.