Fears that attack on beach hut sign was act of revenge

Police investigating Findhorn beach hut sign damage
Police investigating Findhorn beach hut damage

THE LONG AND often bitter battle over the placing of 30 beach huts at Findhorn took an apparently sinister new turn when a sign advertising their sale was attacked.

It was in May last year that local architect Ian Sutherland McCook sought and received permission to erect the huts on Findhorn Beach, members of Moray Council’s planning and regulatory services committee giving planning permission despite objections that they would “ruin the nature of the shorefront for other residents”.

A bitter battle ensued with objectors launching a legal challenge to the Council decision, taking their case to the Court of Session for a judicial review after raising £20,000 through online crowdfunding for the action.

It was not until January that a decision finally came through – finding in favour of the original planning decision, Lord Armstrong saying that the court was concerned only in the “…legality of the decision and not its merits as determined by the planning judgement of the respondent”.

Now a sign at the site has been damaged with key parts of the text destroyed.  A passing police patrol where quickly on hand with a spokesman for the beach huts selling agents saying: “The police turned up and quickly found the missing parts of the sign neatly stowed away in the nearest wheelie bin.

“The CID and forensics are now investigating fingerprints with a view to making further enquiries in the village but we would hope that this is not a revenge attack but rather just a random act of vandalism.”

Anyone with information about the attack, which caused damage that will cost several hundred pounds to repair, is asked to contact Police on 101.