Residents of Maryburgh vow to fight 'clearances-style land grab' from Highland Council as row rumbles on
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MARYBURGH community leaders have vowed all out opposition to what they called Highland Council’s “clearances-style land-grab” in a continuing row over green space in the village.
Such is local anger at Highland Council plans to build 12 flats, three terraced units and a bungalow on land at Maryburgh’s old primary school that all support for the development has evaporated due to last minute changes.
The community council and Maryburgh Amenities Company (Mac) believed they had a promise from the local authority to keep the green space but the final plans showed a huge slice of the park would be used for housing.
Last week worried locals staged a protest that was attended by around 40 people, despite only being called the previous night.
Jenny Maclennan, from Mac, said that as a result they want to stage a community buyout using town centre funding that is currently available and will oppose the development.
She said: “The issue that we have is that we were promised that we were going to get the green space and basically the assurances we were given were just words, nothing more, just words.
“Members of Mac and the community council have met and will no longer wait for the council to fulfil their side of the deal, we no longer believe that they should be putting any housing there at all.
“We will now not support the plan to put housing on the green space at all and instead we will look again to take the area into community ownership. We will also be encouraging those who are against the plans to put in their objections as soon as possible. You could call this a clearances-style land grab.”
