Aberdeenshire Council hits out at city council’s willingness to allow ‘ancient woodland’ to be felled

The passionate debate surrounding a north-east housing development and the ancient trees it could replace has intensified following the intervention of Aberdeenshire Council.

It has urged neighbouring Aberdeen City Council to remove woodland at Leggart Brae, on the outskirts of the city, from its local development plan (LDP) and prevent it from being built upon.

Up to 150 homes are proposed for the site, just south of the River Dee and near the border of the two council areas, as one of the UK’s largest property developers targets Scotland for the first time.

The Comer Property Group previously notified Aberdeen City Council it wished to build on the site and the authority included it in its LDP in March.

The proposals are controversial, with residents telling the Press and Journal they “could not see the logic of destroying our natural environment at a time when many properties sit unsold across the area”.

Now Aberdeenshire Council have waded into the debate, urging city chiefs to remove the site from their local development plan and save “ancient woodland.”

The issue will be discussed at Tuesday’s Kincardine and Mearns area committee.

A report complied by Stephen Archer, who is director of infrastructure services at Aberdeenshire Council, states: “The site will result in the unnecessary loss of green belt land and could have long-term negative implications on the green belt.

“The site is in an environmentally sensitive area, which provides important habitat and
green corridor between River Dee and Tullo Hill.”

Aberdeenshire Council also has concerns about how homes would impact traffic in the area.

Mr Archer said it had “respectfully requested” that the site be removed from Aberdeen’s proposed LDP.

That move has dismayed developers who said their plans had been formulated following a great deal of thought and with a great deal of care.

Comer UK Group chairman, Brian Comer, said: “We are disappointed that officers at Aberdeenshire Council continue to take this view, despite the site previously being the officers’ preferred location for a major development – much larger in scale to what we are proposing.

“That said, it has been very important to me from the outset to ensure that due consideration be given not only to the characteristics of the site and its setting, but importantly the comments raised by all those with an interest in the proposals.”