Councillors have been advised to refuse planning permission for the vast un-authorised Travellers’ site at St Cyrus.
Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee will consider a retrospective planning application for North Esk park on Tuesday.
The camp, which is home to more than 50 people, was built without permission from September 2013.
A previous attempt to win permission by Northesk Investment Ltd was turned down with flooding concerns among the main reasons for refusal.
The applicant subsequently commissioned a new report from consultant SLR which claimed previous flooding concerns had been overstated.
However, this analysis has been dismissed by SEPA which formed a view that the flooding threat at the site posed a “significant risk to lives and property”.
The council’s head of planning and building standards has recommended the new application for a 10-stance caravan park and a touring site of 19 pitches be refused.
The report states: “The site and access road are located within an undeveloped/sparsely developed functional flood plain which is subject to medium to high risk of fluvial and tidal flooding.
“The development site is located within an area designated as a coastal zone and outwith a settlement boundary.”
Other reasons for refusal include its proximity to neighbouring properties and the pollution risked posed by the site’s foul drainage system.
The application has received 42 letters of objection and one letter of support.
A full meeting of Aberdeenshire Council will make a final determination of the application, taking into accounts the comments from next week’s Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee meeting.
The Travellers have lodged an appeal to the Scottish Government against council enforcement notices issued last year. This appeal has been put on hold while the new planning permission application is considered by the council.
The council’s director of infrastructure services Stephen Archer has warned of the potential consequences for the people living at the site.
He said: “If direct action was taken to remove the development, this would displace the Gypsy/Traveller residents and remove the provision of a touring site for use. At present there are no established Gypsy/Traveller sites in the Kincardine and Mearns part of Aberdeenshire.
“This would potentially leave the community with nowhere to live or limit access to education and local services.”
Kath Smith, who owns Esk View Farm neighbouring the site, said she had “no sympathy” for the council.
She said: “The ball’s in their court. They have been responsible for finding them somewhere to go and they are the ones who haven’t.”