The main towns of Aberdeenshire are now being offered as ‘must visit’ destinations by travel agents around the world.

More than sixty trade buyers visited the Aberdeenshire Towns Together (ATT) stand at the recent Visit Scotland international travel trade exhibition in Glasgow and requested more details for their customers.

The buyers came from around the UK, Europe, Asia and America. Some of the travel contacts are based in the Far East.

The proposed expansion of Inverurie, to the east of the River Ury along the road to Old Meldrum, has been described as “probably the largest development in the history of the town”.

Local business representatives will be briefed on the planning proposals at the next meeting of Inverurie Business Association at lunchtime on Tuesday, October 17 in the Kintore Arms Hotel.

“The scale of this expansion is such that it will impact on every business in the town and it is important that local employers know what is being proposed and have the opportunity to express a view on the proposed planning brief,” said IBA chairman John Glover, MD of Larsson Developments.

A Heritage Centre has been included in plans to develop the giant Carriage Works shed on the former Inverurie Loco Works site.

The plans, submitted by Kintore developer Malcolm Allan, propose the creation of 40 townhouses but the end of the building nearest the town centre has been offered to the Inverurie-based charity, Garioch Heritage Society (GHS).

GHS are currently investigating how to turn the area into a Heritage Centre for the town.

The Garioch Heritage Society has been in existence for almost 20 years and, during that time, has been unable to display its artefacts, except for occasional exhibitions, to the people of Inverurie. “This is because its present premises consist of a large cupboard in the Carnegie Museum and, with the number of items growing steadily, the Society is unable to do justice to the material collected, much of it of great historical interest,” explained Dr Geoff Gill MBE, chairman elect of GHS.