RESIDENTS IN a Mearns village have voted overwhelmingly against plans to relocate their local pub.
The Drumtochty Arms Hotel in Auchenblae was destroyed in a gas explosion in 2009 which left three people seriously injured and since then the site in the heart of the village has lain derelict.
Permission has been granted to the owner, businessman Charles Anderson, who also owns nearby Drumtochty Castle, to rebuild the hotel there and incorporate an adjacent former butcher’s shop.
But these plans have now been abandoned owing to constraints with the land.
In new plans, lodged with Aberdeenshire Council last month, it is proposed the new hotel be built on a greenfield site to the west of Granom, on the outskirts of Auchenblae.
The plans include proposals for a caf and farm shop as well as formation of a new access road to the site.
However, villagers have branded the design for the complex as a “modern monstrosity” which they say would be totally out of character with the rest of the village.
At a public meeting organised by Mearns Community Council, more than 50 residents voiced opposition to the plans. A host of objections have also been lodged with the council.
While most villagers are keen to have their pub back, as the “hub” of their community, they insist it should be on its original site.
“Mearns Community Council has a duty to ascertain, coordinate and express to the local authority the views of the communities it represents,” said secretary Marjorie Stewart.
“The general consensus is that there is a need for a pub in Auchenblae, but preferably where it was originally, in a central position that is within easy walking distance from all parts.
“Mearns Community Council will accordingly make representation to the council’s planning department of the council objecting to the application to build on the other site.”
One of the main concerns, she said, was that the proposed new site was outwith the local development plan, and building a hotel there would compromise the beautiful open aspect to the west of Auchenblae.
It was also feared it could set a precedent for further development in this protected area. There were also concerns regarding noise and extra traffic on a narrow road system, the removal of trees and the possibility of flooding.
“A village pub should be in the heart of the village,” said Tracey Harrison Lewis, in a comment online.
“The owners should restore the bomb site we’ve been living with for the past three-and-a-half years and give the village its community hub back.
“The area at the top of the village is naturally beautiful and to erect a new-build there would be wrong.”
Claire McCrimmon said: “Any development there will always impinge on a large number of homes and it is close to a conservation area and recreational area for the village.
“Auchenblae does not need this development at this site and it would cause more harm than good to the infrastructure of the village.
“Historically, the development of a hotel was in the centre and heart of the village.”
The former hotel was gearing up to re-open after a 12-month refurbishment when the explosion ripped the building apart on January 7 2009.
The blast reduced parts of the building to rubble and injured barmaid Danielle Ormond, local man James Guthrie and kitchen porter Neil Coffield.
Danielle Ormond, who suffered significant injuries including a collapsed lung and fractured vertebrae in her neck and back, has launched a legal action and is seeking £200,000 from the hotel’s owner and gas contractor.
However, both parties deny they caused the explosion which saw the Mearns village hit the national news and brought out crowds of spectators to watch the emergency and demolition crews at work.