[pogofish]

Nope, they were certainly not happy about it but had lived & planned round the eventuality for many years. As had many others who lived in the area, my own family included - the reserved road corridor also stretched from Blairs Ferry to Portlethen & almost everyone submitting all but the most minor planning applications along it faced problems of one sort or another. Especially if it involved a change of use.

However the campaign did not initially involve the management of the estate. In fact, they maintained the "we are working fully with the authorities & engineers" line throughout & went to some lengths to dissociate themselves from it but could do nothing (& probably didn't want to) to stop residents or members of staff from organising & getting involved in a personal capacity. This may well have changed when the current route was annonced? They certainly moved that banner on to their land (it was previously sited on corridor land owned by them but leased to a 3rd party) fast enough.

From the outset, I would say the campaign really reflected the interests of other folk, who had been preparing for this for years but knew they would be less likely to get an easy ride in the publicity. After all, special needs kids vs local fat-cats/gentry - Who gets your sympathy?