The original application, by Scotia Homes (North) Ltd, was originally approved on July 10 last year. However, the applicant wished to change the position of the housing and road layout within the site, and as their proposal had attracted 13 letters of representation, the application had to be decided upon by the Garioch Area Committee.

Concerns raised regarding the changes to the layout included worries regarding access onto Whitehall Road, the fact that future access and development should be declared at the same time, that the new development was too "urban and unattractive" and that the redesigned roads would encourage speeding.

Bennachie Community Council raised the objections that the new layout was less appealing, also voicing concerns that Drumrossie Lane and Whitehall Road may be open to traffic in the future. The removal of some of the open spaces and reduction in garden sizes were also highlighted.

Garioch Area Planning Officer Lesley Aitken summarised the changes to the Committee and informed them, as part of the changes, two extra affordable homes would be constructed.
There were two requests to address the committee. Mr Dominic Fairlie, Group Director of Scotia Homes and Mrs Summers of Insch on behalf of those objecting.

Mr Fairlie told Committee members that Scotia were committed to producing well designed sites, and had been working closely with the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment and Urban Design Associates. He stated that one of the reasons for the change was to ensure that housing overlooked the public open spaces, rather than backing on to them for reasons of maintenance and security.

He also said that it was important to maintain linkages to future developments so that areas did not become "piecemeal" developments cut off from each other.

He also stressed that Scotia were very keen to develop "community engagement", and informed members that a public meeting had been arranged for Monday (February 4), involving local members of the community, but that they faced mounting time pressure to get on with the Denwell development and regretted they did not have time to include the proposed changes in that consultation.

Mrs Summers then addressed the committee on behalf of those objecting to the changes. She told the Committee that from the beginning the plans for the development were widely accepted because it did not comprise of ranks of the same type of housing and applauded the developer for including affordable housing.

However, she stated that objectors felt that issue of future connectivity was too important to pass purely as an amendment.

She expressed the objectors' concerns regarding safety of the new "long and straight" road layouts, that the new layout had more density of housing, and the gradual erosion of the number of affordable houses. She also pointed out that concerns regarding Whitehall Road had raised an unprecedented number of representations and that environmental issues and the ownership of the road were also of concern. The community consultation was cautiously welcomed, she added, but objectors felt that any amendments should wait until the consultation had been carried out.

Councillor Sheena Lonchay asked the Planning Department if the ownership of Whitehall Road had any bearing on the development, and was told that it did not.

Councillor Lonchay continued: "As a dog walker, I know the site well and do find it pleasing to see that the houses will now face onto the road. I do think this adds to the security. Regarding the concerns over the long straight roads I don't think they are excessively long. The main difficulty I have with the application is that as a committee we cannot comment on things that might happen in the future."

East Garioch councillor Martin Ford commented: "As the committee know I don't always believe what developers say, but I do support this application, it has been thoughtfully set out and does not repeat mistakes made in previous developments.

"The developer has to be commended for thinking of the quality of life of future residents rather than just trying to sell houses. I would also commend the community consultation and urge the people of Insch to participate it."

West Garioch councillor Bryan Stuart stated: "I appreciate the comments made but I think this is a case of putting the cart before the horse. I strongly endorse the need for further consultation."

He added: "There is a huge issue regarding Whitehall Road and given the timescale I think we have a responsibility to local residents to defer the application for further consultation."

Inverurie and District councillor Michael Raeburn stated: "I am well aware of the philosophy behind the Prince's Foundation that developments should be people friendly not car friendly, and in my view the previous layout was more people friendly. I am also concerned that the new layout leaves space that the developer could shoehorn in four or five more houses. I would recommend refusal as the original layout was better."

Following a vote the Committee decided by seven votes to six to grant full planning permission subject to conditions.