In early 2009 it was discovered that Torphins council had replied to a request from Aberdeenshire council regarding land available for housing and retail development.

This seemed to be happening without too many people being aware of what was going on. A few of us, concerned for the impact on the village, decided to try and raise the level of awareness and to poll opinion on the proposed building areas. 

This resulted in questionnaires asking views on the preferred size of development (how many houses), preferred locations for new developments and areas considered to be protected from development. These were distributed throughout the village, the results collated and presented to the residents (click here to view the results).

What can be gleaned from the results of the questionnaire revealed three interesting points...

• Aberdeenshire and Torphins councils preferred site for development is NOT the site preferred by residents. The majority wish to preserve the open view to the West of Torphins.
• Development should use infill sites and extensions to recently developed areas. 
• Aberdeenshire councils proposed build of 50 houses far exceeds the residents wishes of keeping development to less than 25 new houses for the next 5 years (~80% want 25 houses or less).

We must make sure these views are heard by Aberdeenshire council.

After a public consultation period, in July 2010 Aberdeenshire Council released the LDP (Local Development Plan) that identified areas to be developed and the size of these developments. 

The LDP for Torphins basically demonstrated that all feedback from the Torphins residents (and there was an awful lot) had been completely ignored in favour of pushing 50 houses into an area unpopular with the village. Even in the face of hard statistics in terms of school overcrowding and the impact a large development would have - they want 50 houses in Torphins.

We are not against development – communities have to grow and diversify to sustain, but this should be carried out with respect to what makes a community – its character, aspirations and environment should be part of the development process. That is the only reason that we are here – to try and make sure that Torphins actually has a say in its own future.