ABSTRACT
Peterhead’s geographical location was the reason for the oil industry’s interest in the town and the industry’s interest was the reason for the speculators’ activities. The planning needs of Peterhead depended almost entirely upon the level of petro-chemical developments. Before August 1972 the impact of oil in Peterhead was hardly significant. There were developments under way as the Arunta base was being built and this would soon make its own impact. At the beginning of February 1973 the British Gas Corporation held an open meeting at Crimond. The British Gas Corporation revised its plan in April and suggested moving to a site about 3½ km to the south of the Crimond site, just north of the hamlet of St Fergus. Local authority planning departments are not staffed with petrochemical engineers and they are largely dependent upon consultants and the industry itself for some of the technical information that would enable them to make decisions.
