Café near Bow Fiddle Rock gets go-ahead after appeal
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COUNCILLORS today overturned a planning knock-back to give the go-ahead for a café to be built next to Moray's Coastal Trail.
A fresh bid was made today for permission to build the café in Portknockie off the access road to Bow Fiddle Rock, one of the region's most recognisable landmarks.
The application seeks to build the 30-seat café with 10 car spaces on a mainly disused builder's yard on Patrol Road to cater for locals and visitors.
The plan was originally turned down in July on the grounds that the café would conflict with other existing uses, principally small workshops and yards, and that such a "piecemeal development" would not improve the overall appearance of the site or the wider built environment.
Moray Local Review Body today upheld the appeal after taking on board statements from Kinloss-based firm 1 Architects.
The firm argued against the claim that a small café would conflict with other site users – a joinery manufacturer and a boatbuilder. The other buildings on the site are disused.
The firm said the site was an eyesore and to suggest that the café would not improve this was not credible.
They added: "Development policies are surely meant to assist with the creation of sustainable developments in Moray, particularly when jobs are being created and the visitor experience is being enhanced.
"Our view is that once our client has shown what can be achieved on this site, others will want to follow with other tourist-related developments."
The applicant is a retired builder, born and brought up in Portknockie, who has has owned and used the site for many years.
The architects argued that there was strong demand and local support for the café.
Councillor Gordon Cowie (Independent, Buckie) and Councillor Derek Ross (Independent, Speyside Glenlivet) both spoke out strongly in support of the plans and the application was approved.
