The planning events at Nether Ardgrain hit the headlines when the below article appeared in the Press and Journal.
COUPLE'S £100,000 RESCUE OFFER TO PROTECT HISTORIC SITE REJECTED
ANDY PHILIP 08:50 - 08 February 2007
A Rescue package has been put together to save the setting of a protected 16th-century farmhouse built as the seat of a north-east barony. The owners of Nether Ardgrain - a tight-knit cluster of granite buildings near Ellon - hope to preserve the historic site in the face of planned modernisation. They say the rural setting could be damaged if steadings are converted into two houses and a business unit, as proposed by a farmer who owns some of the outbuildings.
Nether Ardgrain is the only farmhouse in Aberdeenshire to be given category A-listed protection by Historic Scotland and is one of just 10 in the country. Politicians have backed farmhouse owners Rae and Ellen Younger in their efforts to hammer out a way of saving the original layout of the site. They offered to invest more than £100,000 to buy farm buildings at the site and begin sympathetic renovation.
The couple said farmer Sandy Low's plans offered a way of rescuing the buildings from ruin but risked jeopardising the nature of Nether Ardgrain. Their offer has been rejected by the farmer's agents ahead of a decision by an Aberdeenshire planning committee, which could allow the radical alterations.
Mr Younger, 28, an engineer, said: "It's been a farm for 500 years. It seems a shame to build houses and a business, creating a cul-de-sac, when there is an alternative." He stressed: "We don't have a problem with the attempts to stop the buildings falling into ruin, but it's a rare site and we hope to keep it like that."
Mr Younger said renovated buildings could then be leased back to keep them as part of a working farm.
The couple moved to Nether Ardgrain 18 months ago after falling in love with its history. It was built by the Kennedys of Kermuck under royal charter in 1528 as the seat of the Barony of Ardgrain. The Kennedys, who also built the now-ruined Ellon Castle, were hereditary constables of Aberdeen. The site is linked to local history dating back to 1413. The house sits in a secluded position close to a single-track road that was once the main Ellon-Fraserburgh route.
Among the buildings is a one-room bothy thought to be the only one of its type in the area.
The category A listing, made in 1971, extends to all associated buildings. The issue of changing the use of the outbuildings was made possible when the site was split in 1982. Aberdeenshire councillors plan to visit the farm before they decide whether to grant permission for the homes and business. Officials have backed the application, which was lodged by Taylor Design, of Ellon.
Council planning official Victoria Moore said: "In this case the proposal is acceptable and ensures the future of these buildings whilst preserving the historic status."
Earlier plans had been rejected for failing to focus on conservation.
Gordon Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce was one of three politicians to object to the plans. He supported the concerns voiced by Mr and Mrs Younger and said the current plans would lead to the "irreversible loss" of A-listed buildings. North-east MSPs David Davidson and Shiona Baird have also objected.
The application is expected to come before the Formartine area committee in Ellon on February 27.
