DEVELOPERS eyeing a major expansion of housing in Cardross have been refused permission to vary the conditions of their planning application.

However, Cala Management's bid for the site at Barrs Road may yet come to fruition, with an alternative application to build on the land on the northern edge of the village now submitted to council planning officers.

The company's proposal was the subject of a public hearing in June which failed to come to a definite decision on whether to allow variation of the planning conditions.

It was continued to a meeting of Argyll and Bute Council’s planning, protective services and licensing committee on Wednesday, August 21.

A motion by the committee’s chair, Councillor Kieron Green (Independent, Oban North and Lorn) said that planning permission should be refused on the grounds that “insufficient technical details” had been provided to address flooding concerns.

All three Helensburgh and Lomond councillors in the meeting – Graham Hardie (Liberal Democrat, Helensburgh Central), Fiona Howard (Labour, Helensburgh Central) and Paul Kennedy (Liberal Democrat, Helensburgh and Lomond South) – voted along with the motion, which prevailed by five votes to four.

Councillor Gordon Blair (SNP, Cowal) moved that a planning officer’s recommendation to approve the variation should be accepted.

Councillor Howard said: “I fully support the motion. I was at the site visit and am extremely concerned about the state of the pond that water is going to run into.

“More needs to be done to ensure its safety, and to ensure the burn at Geilston is fit to carry additional water. I am not sure it is.”

Councillor Green said: “On the site visit I walked around the pond and it is surprising how close the water level was, and this was during a dry spell. I would seek assurances there would not be overtopping.

“It is not my intent to block development on this site. I am fully supportive of the need for additional housing in the area.

“But if development is going ahead, we need to ensure there is not an unacceptable impact on properties.”

Councillor Andrew Kain (Independent, Oban South and the Isles) said: “What we are talking about is basically killing this today.

“Can we not find another solution? It is only the drainage, from what I hear, that is impeding this development. It seems a bit extreme.”

David Logan, the council’s head of governance and legal, responded: “Members have had a hearing and we are at the point of making a decision. I understand there is a further application that will likely come back.”

Peter Bain, a planning officer with the local authority, added: “There is another planning permission in principle relating to this site which is a variation on the 2018 consent which was secured earlier this year.

“If this is unsuccessful, the applicant has a permission in principle which will remain and allow them to revisit it.

"The developer also has the right to appeal if members refuse. This is not necessarily the end of this process.”

Councillor Green’s motion then won a roll-call vote among the councillors in the meeting.