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.

Concerns “forgotten woodland” could become eyesore feature at new housing development

Elgin City South councillor John Divers intends to put local matters first in the election.
Elgin City South councillor John Divers intends to put local matters first in the election.

Concerns have been raised that a “forgotten woodland” in Moray’s biggest town could become an eyesore feature of a major housing development.

For more than a decade, Maggot Wood, on the southern edge of Elgin, has been earmarked for transformation into a public park or gardens.

But now, Moray Council has proposed changing the future use of the land to “amenity” – which would see the woodland remain as it is.

Councillor John Divers revealed last night that several projects for the grassy area near the woods had been abandoned due to the green vision for the site, including football pitches and allotments.

And the Elgin City South member fears the unsightly trees could be a blot on the landscape in the area, which will be next to an access road for a 2,500-home development, if they are allowed to grow out of control.

He said: “If it becomes amenity ground, then it’s just going to remain as it is – which is an unsightly area of ground.

“Linkwood Road is going to become a major gateway into the new Elgin South housing with lots of vehicles using it for access.

“It doesn’t make sense to have an ugly area like that sitting in among several housing schemes.

“There was an area at the top of New Elgin Road at the roundabout that was designated as amenity and it just got worse and worse and more untidy – I can see the same thing happening here.”

Proposals for a crematorium near the woodland at the corner of Reiket Lane and Linkwood Road were thrown out by the council 15 years ago, because the land was being reserved for parkland as part of the Elgin South masterplan.

Elgin Community Council chairman Alistair Kennedy said: “It’s fine having green spaces in towns, but they have to be nice, not just for the sake of it.

“The trees are already big brutes of things and, if they’re left [standing], our concern would be they could start to impact on the look of the area.”

The changes are part of a Moray Council consultation about open spaces in Elgin, Forres, Buckie, Keith, Lossiemouth, Aberlour and Dufftown that begins on Monday and runs for eight weeks.

A Moray Council spokesman added: “The strategy will be used by the council when making planning decisions which impact on open space and by developers to guide the provision of open space in new developments.”

A Springfield spokeswoman confirmed they owned the woodland and had no plans for future developments there.