A public hearing could be held to determine the fate of a highly controversial Perth housing plan.
Developers are battling to resurrect their 1,300-home Almond Valley village bid after it was rejected by councillors amid widespread criticism from residents.
The Pilkington Trust, which has been working on the project for more than 20 years, has appealed to Scottish Minisiters and urged them to overturn Perth and Kinross Council’s decision. The organisation is also demanding that the local authority pay its expenses.
The trust said the council’s development management committee refused the plan, against the advice of its own legal officers.
Now the government planning and environmental appeals division has announced its intention to hold a hearing or inquiry session, involving representations from all sides of the dispute.
Several objectors including Methven Community Council and the Huntingtower and Ruthvenfield Conservation Group have already asked to take part in any future hearing.
In a letter to parties, government case officer Scott Mackenzie, who is leading the inquiry, said: “A reporter from this office has now been appointed to make a decision on the case.
“The reporter has now looked at the documentation available and considers that a hearing or inquiry session may be required to assist in reaching a decision.”
Kenneth Simpson, chair of Methven and District Community Council, has lodged further objections to the scheme and said it would create a “huge urban sprawl”. He estimates there are more than 10,000 homes being built or planned for the city.
“The local community has accepted small residential developments over the years, but a development of this scale would completely ruin the whole character of the area,” he said in his letter to appeal officials.
“There is no way Perth can cope with or requires the proposed nearly 10,000 houses at various sites in and around Perth, which have been granted, currently before the council or in the pipeline.
“This far exceeds the numbers put forward by the Scottish Government for the next 20 years.”
Mr Simpson added: “If even half of these sites proceed, then the Almond Valley site is vital as a green lung between Bertha Park, Almondbank, Broxden and Perth City West.”
In paperwork submitted to Scottish Ministers, a spokesman for Edinburgh-based Pilkington said: “The development has clear and straightforward policy support and the reasons for refusal do not bear scrutiny.
“Further, the express and clear advice of the committee’s own advisers, both planning and legal, was that there was no basis to support the reasons that were proposed.”
