The village of Pennan may be global film star but its conservation status is not helping locals to maintain a sustainable life and must be eased, argues Herald columnist Alan Simpson

IT is a village of just one street and regularly gets battered with the full force of the North Sea winds that come in from the east.

In many ways it is very similar to virtually every other seaside town around the coast of Scotland and it probably wouldn’t be known outside of it’s corner of Aberdeenshire except for on this.

More than 40 years ago, Pennan was catapulted into global recognition as the setting for the classic Bill Forsyth film Local Hero and still draws movie fans to this day.

The 1983 film, starring Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Fulton Mackay and Denis Lawson, sees Pennan double up as Ferness which has been chosen as the site of an oil refinery and is earmarked to be demolished.

The village’s red telephone box was a big factor in the film and tourists still turn up today to make a call from it.

But now a new drama is taking place in the village after s residents called for Pennan’s conservation status to be removed amid fears the rules make them feel they “live in a museum”.

Having the status in place means that villagers have to follow various guidelines if they wish to make upgrades to their homes.

But despite being a conservation area since 1977, there has never been any tailored guidance written especially for Pennan.

First residents in Pennan are allowed back into their homes

How Pennan became a ghost town

More drama in Pennan as mobility scooter man plunges into water

Pennan's hall to be torn down following mudslide

Members of the Banff and Buchan area committee recently considered a report on the upkeep of the historic coastal village.

The document would help with planning rules for anyone........

© Herald Scotland