AN OUTLINE planning application to develop a site in Ardoch, east of Cardross, will be decided at a public hearing.

Planning officials recommended that an outline application to build five substantial homes on the Paddock in Ardoch should be approved.

But members of Argyll and Bute Council's planning, protective services and licensing committee (PPSL) have decided to hold a hearing before reaching a final decision - after more than 300 people objected to the proposal.

As previously reported in the Advertiser, applicant James Black, of Helensburgh, is seeking outline permission to build five large detached houses on the site, located between the A814 Dumbarton-Helensburgh road and the Helensburgh-Glasgow railway line.

As well as a petition signed by 309 people, 33 individual objections – including one from 19 Ardoch residents – have also been lodged with the council.

In a report for the PPSL's meeting on April 26, planning officer Howard Young said: “On the basis of the size of the settlement, the large number of objections received and the range of technical issues raised it is considered that there would be added value in holding a hearing.”

The objectors' concerns focus on eight main issues: road safety, drainage and flooding, the rural nature of the area, the historical nature of Ardoch, the lack of need for additional housing in the area, the impact on wildlife, and the fact that two previous bids by the same applicant to develop the site, in 1989 and 2002, were rejected.

Cardross Community Council has also raised concerns about the proposal, echoing residents' road safety, gas pipeline, flooding and wildlife concerns and questioning the need for high-value properties in the area.

But the applicant's agent, John Warren of Milngavie-based Warren Associates, told the Advertiser that the principle of developing the site was a 'done deal' – because the land was removed from the green belt when the latest local development plan was published in 2015.

Mr Young's report also pointed out that the site is located within the settlement boundary of Ardoch, as laid out in the current Argyll and Bute local development plan.

The report stated: “The principle of residential development is fully in accordance with the development plan and there are no material considerations which would indicate that the decision should depart from the policies of the recently adopted development plan.

“A PPP application only deals with the principle of the development proposed and does not deal with the detail of layout, design,landscaping etc.

“It is considered that the proposal would accord with development plan policy subject to conditions requiring the submission of further details at the Approval of Matters Subject to Conditions (AMSC) stage.”