The time is now closing in on the public inquiry. Many folk have been working to provide the information necessary to convince the reporter that this is the wrong development in the wrong place.
who does what
Our barrister John Campbell, a long standing member of the team, is guiding us to speak confidently and with authority about the critical issues. Even with his experience, each inquiry addresses its own issues and each is usually conducted by a different reporter. This means we need to be well prepared.
There will be many participants at the inquiry. In preparation, HoFWIG, community council reps and some of our volunteer experts met with John to cover the details of how the inquiry works and what is expected of us by the reporter.
The inquiry sessions on cultural heritage and landscape and visual issues as well as the hearing sessions on energy and planning policy are where much of our own work has focussed. The community session is where your views are being sought.
The conditions are what the developer will have to comply with if the development goes ahead. The reporter is hoping for agreement between us and the developer, but failing that she will make recommendations.
The energy and planning policy hearing is about how the development complies with NPF4, which also includes noise, flicker, water supplies, biodiversity, climate and nature crisis, economics and more.
The questions the reporter is asking include how we think she should deal with aspects she is not familiar with. Most unusual for a reporter we understand and something which could be important for us and where we could be influential for the community.
Invitation
Everyone is invited to attend and listen to the proceedings each day. You do not need to book. The inquiry process will not be streamed live by the DPEA however we are hoping to stream the community session using the HoFWIG facebook page here.
The timetable is as follows:
Tuesday – Wednesday 2nd – 3rd cultural heritage (inquiry)
Thursday – Friday 4th – 5th landscape and visual impact (inquiry)
Monday evening 8th community hearing (hearing)
Tuesday 9th energy and planning policy (hearing)
Wednesday 10th conditions (hearing)
Thursday 11th reserved for overrun
each day runs 10:00 until 16:00
Monday evening 18:30 until 21:30
community session
34 contributions are expected at the public hearing on Monday 8th, of which 6 are community councils, 27 are objectors and one is a supporter of the development. Each has submitted their four minute presentation, all which are available here.
It would be a great help if you could join us at the Banchory townhall on Monday 8th September from 18:30.
Your presence will help to show that the community is opposed to this development and feel so strongly that you will come to the townhall on a Monday evening to hear what is being said. The reporter is not only listening to evidence but also gauging the feeling of the community.
further reading
Here is a link to the documents being used as evidence at the inquiry. The list has been compiled by the reporter from submissions by the participants. It is easy to navigate and worth browsing to answer any questions you may have.
Here is an article HoFWIG has written for the August Westhill community newsletter and here is the article written by RES, appearing on the page before. Please assess for yourself the truth of the information presented and the need for the development, as the Reporter will be doing in September.
sponsored walk
A huge thank you to all who have supported our sponsored walk on the Hill of Fare. So far we have raised over £1,000, which will contribute towards paying our legal and expert advice for the forthcoming Public Inquiry.
A small group will be walking the route, which will be chosen nearer the time depending upon weather. If you would like to join in please contact info@hilloffare.org and you will be given the details once they have been finalised.
If you would like to sponsor the walk here is a link to speed the fundraising on its way.
