A CONTROVERSIAL planning application for four houses in a quiet Helensburgh cul-de-sac has been granted – despite opposition from residents and the town's community council.

Plans by Taylor Wimpey to build four houses in Redgauntlet Road, in addition to the 95 properties already being built on the adjacent site of the former Hermitage Academy, sparked anger among neighbours.

Objectors told Argyll and Bute Council the narrow street would be unable cope with noise, dirt, air pollution and obstruction during the construction - and extra cars coming to the street once the families move in would cause huge problems.

Helensburgh community councillor Nigel Millar, meanwhile, said the residents had been dealt a "raw deal" by the company's application.

Prior to the decision being made, John Scullion, chairman of the Redgauntlet Road Residents Association, told the Advertiser: "The council officers, who of course run the council not the elected members, have already swept aside all the objections."

He added: "They have put their own spin on the words to ensure that all our objections are presented as mere amateurish whingeing.

"The council officers, it would seem, have already made the decision to grant permission even before it has got to the PPSL committee, therefore, I presume the committee will merely carry out their function of ticking the box to complete the bureaucratic process.

"None of the actual reams of paperwork and letters, including the full report from the Helensburgh Community Council, will be shown to the committee."

The company's application was approved by the council's planning, protective services and licensing committee at a meeting in Lochgilphead on May 16.