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.

Campaigners ready for battle to plead for Moray ice house to be revived as cafe

Brigid Aitken wants to open a coffee shop at the ice house near Portgordon.
Brigid Aitken wants to open a coffee shop at the ice house near Portgordon.

Campaigners are readying themselves to plead for a historic piece of a Moray village’s fishing heritage to be revived.

A public hearing has been scheduled to resolve the deadlock over plans to transform an old ice house near Portgordon into a coffee shop.

Moray Council’s planning officials have recommended the proposals be thrown out because its size would harm coastal views.

However, nearly 50 people have rallied in support of Brigid Taylor’s dream to open a business in the 19th century store, which is less than a mile east of the village.

All 48 people who backed the plans, as well as seven protestors, will have the chance to speak at a special meeting of the council’s planning committee on August 17.

Lennox Community Council chairwoman, Maureen Burrows, is already rallying representatives to make their case to councillors.

A previous proposal for the Gollachy ice house, which also included nine new houses, was thrown out in 2013 after it divided the community but Mrs Burrows believes Ms Taylor’s smaller vision has won the support of the village.

She said: “I know people are really fired up about it this time. What happened last time seems to have galvanised people.

“This is a second chance for the ice house. I don’t think we would be lucky enough to get a third chance with plans for it.

“I know the council has concerns about how close it is to the coast but there are exceptions to every rule – this would be a great example.”

Mrs Burrows believes finding a 21st Century role for the ice house will stop it from crumbling into disrepair over the coming decades – fearing the community will “die” unless firms are attracted to it.

The plans lodged for the building also include a manageress flat and a “well-being centre”, which could host art exhibitions as well as yoga and pilates sessions.

It is understood that the ice house has lain dormant for about 50 years.

Despite the volume of letters of support of the cafe plans, concerns remain among some residents in the village.

Pringle George said: “I can understand Mrs Burrows’s concerns about the village, but I don’t think this application is very practical.”