Removal of council house open fires in Aberdeenshire to continue

Louise Kelly said she would not feel safe in her home during power cuts

The removal of open fires from council houses in Aberdeenshire to help meet net zero targets is to continue, despite objections from residents.

Aberdeenshire Council aims to remove the fireplaces and upgrade electric storage heaters in Braemar and other areas in a bid to meet climate targets.

Some villagers objected, arguing they were a back-up source of heat.

Councillors, however, rejected a proposal to keep the fires while alternatives were investigated.

Aberdeenshire was one of the worst affected areas when Storm Arwen brought down power lines in November.

In Braemar itself, an overnight temperature of -23C (-9.4F) recorded in February last year was a record low for the month since 1955, and the UK's coldest night since December 1995.

Louise Kelly, 51, who has lived in Braemar for 28 years, said she was extremely disappointed by the council's decision to continue removing open fires.

She told BBC Scotland: "It means that when we get these power cuts - this winter we've had three bad storms - I'm not going to be safe in my own home.

"I'll have no back-up form of heating, no way to cook food, heat water - it makes my home unliveable essentially in those power cuts."

She added: "I've been a tenant for 20 years and it feels like they don't care about me. They really don't care about me and other residents here who they are trying to push the same thing onto.

"I feel angry, I feel disappointed, I don't feel listened to, I don't feel they care."

• Removal of open fires not required to meet targets

• Heated debate on council plan to remove open fires

• The communities still recovering from Storm Arwen

A row broke out in January over the plans.

Residents said it would leave them without an alternative source of heat during power cuts, as well as increasing their energy bills.

Aberdeenshire Council said that open fireplaces remained in less than 2% of the homes managed by the local authority.

On Thursday, the communities committee was asked to vote to allow those wishing to keep their coal fires to do so while a suitable alternative contingency was investigated.

However, the motion was defeated and so the programme of upgrades will now continue as planned, with timings being discussed with individual households.

A fuel poverty working group will examine the wider issue across Aberdeenshire.

A council spokesman said: "We appreciate this has been a challenging time for many, however open fireplaces would not allow us to meet statutory and regulatory energy efficiency standards for social housing, nor our 'net zero' targets.

"It is important we move to modern heating solutions for all of our properties."