They particularly approved of a proposal, that developers should lodge a bond with the Council, to underwrite any breakdown in maintenance work carried out in certain areas.

The proposals are contained in a new Parks and Open Spaces Strategy document that came before a meeting today at Tullynessle of the Marr Area Committee. The proposals follow problems, that have been experienced recently - by residents in some new private housing developments - over who is responsible for the care and maintenance of open spaces around such developments.

The proposed new Council strategy covers a wide range of open spaces, including allotments, cemeteries and woodlands but said that members would be "aware of issues that have arisen over green space maintenance in several communities."

But it was claimed that "frequently the Council has no legitimate role in resolving unsatisfactory situations."

A study conducted by the Office of Fair Trading, examining such issues, had concluded that the use of planning conditions was "inadequate to secure long term quality in open space" and that the legal provisions that would enable consumers to swap land maintenance companies "are complex and untested."

In order to reduce exposure to risk, for future home-owners, Aberdeenshire Council's draft Parks and Open Spaces Strategy includes some new policy provisions.

Said the report: "One issue in particular is the proposed requirement (by property developers) to lodge a bond with the Council, against satisfactory completion of layout and subsequent maintenance of open space, where maintenance is to be carried out by an unaccredited third party. This would call for developers to request their bank, or other insurer, to underwrite the risk of failure to complete satisfactory land maintenance, comparable to the way in which bonds are currently lodged with the Council, in respect of roads and footways."

Welcoming the proposals, Banchory Councillor Karen Clark said that there was a need to be "more robust" in agreements with developers, over the issue of maintenance. Some areas of Banchory, she said, were very unkempt and a source of great concern to residents.

Aboyne Councillor Peter Argyle said that although he agreed that there was a need for a robust bond scheme in such situations, there was also a responsibility among people, who buy houses in new schemes, to ensure that agreements were quite clear about who was responsible for open spaces maintenance. They could not always expect the Council "to pick up the tab."

Councillor Jill Webster said that she also "liked the idea of a bond" to cover such situations.