Council chiefs are formulating the next stage of their battle plan against an illegal Travellers’ site.
As the first anniversary of the setting up of the encampment on the Mearns/Angus border looms, Aberdeenshire Council admitted it is “considering options” over the future of the North Esk Park development on the banks of the River North Esk, near St Cyrus.
The council issued a brief statement in the wake of a sheriff’s decision this week which cleared Traveller James McCallum of breaching a legal order to halt work on the site, adjacent to the internationally-renowned St Cyrus nature reserve.
North Esk Park is now a walled development with roads and lighting, and is home to around 20 caravans.
The case was initially raised by the local authority at Stonehaven Sheriff Court, but transferred to Aberdeen after the shake-up of the Scottish courts system in May.
In this week’s judgment, Sheriff Alison Stirling found Aberdeenshire Council had failed to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that Mr McCallum had allowed the scheme to go ahead.
A council solicitor claimed Mr McCallum had “fronted” the development, but Mr McCallum insisted he had not carried out any work on site or instructed anyone else to do so.
The Traveller also denied filling out the application for planning permission that had been submitted in his name.
The court heard from a retired planning inspector who said he had visited the site on a number of occasions in September and October 2013 and was of the view that Mr McCallum was in charge.
Mr McCallum denied that was true, insisting he had not spoken to Aberdeenshire Council about the development but had given interviews to the press about the site.
The sheriff said she found the retired planning official to be a credible witness, adding: “I am not impressed by Mr McCallum’s evidence, that he was a spokesperson for the press for others on the site because they could not read and write and him knowing nothing about the planning application in his name.
“There is an obvious tension there.”
However, she said there was not sufficient evidence to find Mr McCallum, 40, in breach of interdict.
The decision means the council will have to use planning law if it wants to take further enforcement measures against the camp but first it will have to establish who is responsible for the development.
Furious local residents say they have been left “gobsmacked” by the latest turn of events and feel let down by the authority.
“Work started in September last year, they put in a retrospective planning application but that was then withdrawn in March,” said one resident.
“This leaves the council still trying to get enforcement, but we just can’t get our heads around how this has happened.
“They have been made to look a fool of and they have been totally ineffective and ineffectual in dealing with this.
“There are still no plans in and it is completely contrary to everything that we know about Aberdeenshire Council and the planning rules.
“You can’t even get permission for a porch without having to go through the whole process, and yet here we are, almost a year on, and this whole site is still there.
“They have now handed this poisoned chalice on to the area manager who has just a few weeks to get a plan together to move this forward.”
A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said: “We are considering our options regarding the site following the recent ruling.”