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.

Green light expected for Stonehaven’s Hogmanay highlight

Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue.
Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue.

Councillors are set to agree the return of a popular Mearns Hogmanay celebration this year.

The likes of Deacon Blue, Simple Minds, The Human League and Red Hot Chilli Pipers have all headlined the street party in the middle of Stonehaven.

Known as Open Air in the Square (OAITS) since ticket sales began in 2013, the event folded last year due to the economic climate.

OAITS had cemented the town as a Hogmanay destination alongside the annual fireballs procession.

A commercial organisation has now presented plans to bring the event back, and members of Aberdeenshire Council’s Kincardine and Mearns committee are due to agree the use of public land in Market Square, while expecting to be reimbursed for lost parking revenue.

Infrastructure services director Stephen Archer said the event had pulled in crowds of 5,000 people.

“In the last few years this became a paid for ticket only event organised by a local Community Group and continued to be branded as Open Air in the Square,” he comments.

“When the event closed off the car park and started charging for entry a report came before this committee to seek clarification as to whether it remained a valid use of a public resource.

“As the event provided more visitors and economic benefit to the town and was not strictly commercial members were supportive of the request.

“The OAITS group did not run an event on December 31 2016 and are not intending to run one this year either.

“A commercial organisation have requested to use the Market Square for a similar type of event, with purchased tickets this year.

“Given the scale of such an event it is anticipated that the same car park and road closures will be required and requested.”

The local authority would charge organisers for the loss of the car park in Market Square, which would be up to £700 for five to seven days based on previous years, as well as a traffic order and signposting worth around £1,000.

Although this year’s event will be run by a commercial organisation not affiliated with Open Air in the Square, the previous organisers have indicated they would like to run events in future.

Responses from Stonehaven Business Association and Stonehaven and District Community Council will be given verbally at Tuesday’s meeting in the town.