Today I had the job of moving a motion at an Aberdeenshire Area planning meeting that recommended the approval of Brewdog’s proposed eco-brewery near Potterton in Aberdeenshire. It started with me having to declare that I drink their beer !! Declarations of interest all round the committee room soon followed.
Yet the development should be rejected (according to officials and some Councillors) because its in the ‘Green Belt’
The Green Belt generally should be exceptionally difficult to get permission to develop on. This development is technically not agricultural and is really only classed as Industrial. But it is, I argued, a craft brewery with a ‘from the land, to the land’ proposal embedded within it. It is associated with a land holding and that relationship cannot be done if its on a more expensive industrial estate as suggested in the report.
In the past I have been a consistent defender of Green Belt planning and departing to recommend allowing this is something that should not be done without the most careful consideration. I had to come the conclusion that there were no Council policies that could have provided for this type of development. Its a one off proposal. There very possibly will only ever be one Brewery application like this in my time as a Councillor (now 17 years). Its actually an environmental benefit to part of a local SINS (nature conservation) site that touches it. So, with the idea that the Council could put in the required strict conditions that this proposal – and only this proposal, was to be allowed, I am glad that I can recommend to my colleagues that they chill out and allow James and Martin to brew their eclectic beers at this exceptional concept brewery.
See the plans for yourself at http://xrl.in/3s0q
