Aberdeenshire Council has unveiled proposals to designate the village of Tarland as a Conservation Area within the next year.

The Council's Environment Team is currently in the early stages of the designation process and has been gathering information about the historical development of the village, taking photographs and compiling it into a draft Conservation Area Appraisal.

This will be published towards the end of the summer for public consultation.

Tarland is a traditional Aberdeenshire village with its history traced back to medieval times and the local authority aims to ensure that the character of the area is maintained.

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Work has already started on assessing Tarland as a Conservation Area which will bring protection to its buildings, trees and open space. If designated, it will be the fifth Conservation Area in the Marr area.

Formal consultation is expected to begin with the local community towards to the end of the summer, and will provide an opportunity to discuss the proposals. Until that time, Marsaili Aspinall from the Environment Team, Infrastructure Services will be in Tarland preparing the consultation report.

Aberdeenshire Council's Head of Service for Planning and Building Standards, Robert Gray said: "Tarland has a fascinating history and should the proposal be successful, Conservation Area status would mean that all areas of the village would be given additional protection under planning legislation.

"Conservation Area status is a positive step towards an area's protection, enhancement and management of future development."

The village of Auchenblae, in Kincardine and Mearns, is also a proposed Conservation Area and the Council will be consulting the community on the proposal at the end of the summer.

(JP/CD)