The first item on the agenda at the K&M Area Committee meeting on Tuesday was the application for planning permission for a supermarket at New Mains of Ury.
As was widely publicised before the meeting, the planning department were recommending that the application be refused, which generated much discussion locally.
The session started with a report presented by Senior Planner Neil Mair, who explained that the planning department were recommending that the application be refused. The reasons for refusal were:
· The application does not comply with the Local Development Plan, and this development, alongside the already approved Ury Estate site, would result in an adverse effect on the town centre.
· The site is outwith the town settlement of Stonehaven, which is discouraged in National Policy.
· Although the site is existing brownfield land, the size of the development exceeds the policy allowance.
· The site lies in an accessible rural location, but retail and cafés in these areas are not supported within National Policy.
Following the report, councillors had an opportunity to ask questions, before the next representatives were invited to speak. Some of the topics raised were the number of supermarkets in other towns in Aberdeenshire, the capacity of the roundabout and the concerns about the completion of the Ury Estate supermarket.
There were then short presentations from interested parties, again followed by questions.
Ashfield Commercial Developments Ltd
First was representation from Ashfield Commercial Developments, the applicant, supported by two Tesco representatives. They rebutted the argument that the town centre would suffer, emphasising the significant amount of “leakage” already occurring, with many Stonehaven residents doing their main shop elsewhere. They estimated that a conservative figure of one million miles of driving could be saved with a local supermarket. They also confirmed that the planned store is approximately the same size as the Banchory shop.
During the question portion of this presentation, councillors were reminded that the application is for a Retail store and associated services, not for a specific supermarket chain.
Councillors questions included concern about the 24 hour opening requested, and the Tesco representative explained that this is their default application and this could be negotiated.
Stonehaven and District Community Council
The second presentation was from David Lawman, speaking on behalf of Stonehaven and District Community Council, who support the application. He spoke of the outcry on local social media when it was announced that the planners were recommending refusal, and explained that SDCC believed Stonehaven town centre had enough resilience to survive, even in the event that two supermarkets were completed. He also expressed doubts about the timescale for delivery of the Ury Estate development.
Ury Estates Ltd
The final presentation was from Jonathan Milne, on behalf of Ury Estates Ltd, who spoke against the application. He stated that he fully intends to complete the development at Ury Estate, including the link road and vehicle bridge from the Netherley Road to the Slug Road. This will be expensive, but Ury Estates now have credit approved terms in place to allow the work to be completed. They are also in discussions with a major retailer, and hope to agree terms soon. Further works are planned to commence in August/September, with completion due August/September 2026.
Councillors asked how viable the site would be if the New Mains of Ury was built, but Mr Milne did not answer directly, reiterating that getting the infrastructure and link road in place was key to the Ury masterplan, and if they were in place another retailer would definitely be interested in the site.
Discussion, Deliberation and Decision…..
The councillors then discussed the proposals, with the key theme being that they gave less weight to the planned completion of the Ury Estate development than the planning department did. Neil Mair confirmed that if planning permission was not already in place at Ury Estate, this application would have been more likely to be approved.
Following a short break it was proposed that the application be approved. This was seconded and then agreed by the full Area Committee. As the application was recommended for refusal by the Planning department, and the development is not in the Local Development Plan, it will now go to the Infrastructure Services Committee (ISC), with a recommendation from K&M Area Committee that the application should be granted.