Council moves towards creating Aberdeenshire's first Travellers' site - Aberdeenshire

From STV

Aberdeenshire councillors have agreed, in principle, to the creation of a Travellers' stopover site near Old Deer.

The subject has aroused recent controversy in neighbouring Aberdeen City, but a meeting of the local authority's Policy & Resources committee on Thursday reached agreement on the establishment of a potential travellers' site at Aikey Brae.

This would offer members of the travelling community a 14-pitch site, with the council installing a water pipe, portable toilets and refuse facilities.

However, the plans are subject to wider consultation with other representatives, including the Buchan Area Committee, and the proposals have still to be referred to the 'Gypsy/Traveller' sub-committee for detailed consideration before any final decision is reached on what has become an emotive subject in the north-east.

An Aberdeenshire Council statement said: "The site at Aikey Brae has been used as an unauthorised encampment [by travellers] for more than ten years.

"With large areas of hard standing, natural bunding, and access to water, it is considered a suitable stopping place for Gypsy/Travellers.

"We have been trying to identify areas of land for use as stopover sites for several years. Their creation would meet the accommodation needs [of Travellers], as identified in the Craigforth Accommodation Study, carried out in 2009."

The authority have engaged in consultations with the Travellers about their needs, as part of the Craigforth research and again in 2012, and heard concerns being voiced about the lack of stopover facilities in Aberdeenshire.

But, mindful of public disquiet, there is no timetable for the site being sanctioned.

A judgment on the matter, covering all the relevant information, will only be made at a future meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee.