Attempts to get homes built on green belt land above Duntocher have been knocked back by the Scottish Government.

The long-running saga of private housing firms trying to put houses on Duntiglennan Fields took its latest with the Scottish Government’s planning reporter recommending against opening up the land for use.

His comments on the local development plan (LDP2) is a reversal from five years ago when the government backed the development against the wishes of residents and unanimous votes by councillors.

That prompted the council to halt its previous local development plan to prevent homes at Duntiglennan.

This time, the reporter identified a short-term shortfall in private housing developments available because of the pace of various projects throughout Clydebank, such as Queens Quay.

Duntiglennan Fields was identified as the only option by the reporter, but he said it had been seven years since a consultation had been carried out.

He ruled: “Development of the Duntiglennan Fields site would have some negative effects, most notably in terms of landscape impact, recreational access, and sustainable transport.

“However, these may be capable of some mitigation through limiting the development footprint, strategic landscaping, and making new provision for public footpaths.

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“While some residual impacts would remain, these could well be outweighed by the benefit of minimising the significant shortfall identified in the short-term housing land supply in the Clydebank area.”

He continued: “A strong case therefore exists for the allocation of the Duntiglennan Fields site in the plan.

“However, I am also conscious that I have not been supplied with comprehensive environmental information about the site, and the local community has not had any recent opportunity to express its views on the prospect of housing development here.

“Given Scottish ministers’ policy in these circumstances, I have therefore concluded that Duntiglennan Fields should not be included as a housing site in the local development plan at the current time.”

Although the reporter said there had not been a recent consultation, a bid by developer Barratt Homes to build 99 homes on the site was rejected by West Dunbartonshire Council’s planning committee in January and then the full council in February.

There had been 116 objections, and hundreds more with the LDP2.

Barratt Homes had lodged an objection with the Scottish Government before the rejection based on the length of time the application was taking.

The reporter’s recommendations for LDP2 will be considered by the planning committee in August.