CITY councillors have agreed that a large area of land at Carmyle can be developed for housing.

Detailed plans will now need to be drawn up for further approval but, because there will be only one vehicle access point, the number of properties will be limited by condition to 300.

The greenfield site, between the Clyde and the M74, is described by planners as “mostly unused and degraded land almost wholly overgrown with grassland, scrub and woodland.”

Several community infrastructure improvements will be provided under the proposals:

— Two new multi-use games pitches, to include floodlighting and changing facilities;

— Expansion of the local community centre with provision for two additional rooms

— Expansion of the school capacity to include up to three new classrooms and two additional nursery classes.

Vehicular access involves creation of a fourth arm to the existing roundabout on the A763 Clydeford Road and the formation of a new length of road to link with River Road at a point to the west of the bowling green. This requires an engineered embankment approximately 450 metres long.

The existing road network will be upgraded between the bowling club and junction with Carmyle Avenue. Access to the housing site itself would be then taken from the eastern end of River Road at its junction with Estate Road, thereafter following an existing track that runs below a disused railway bridge.

Officials pointed out that during the processing of the planning application, various elements of the proposal had been deleted, most notably an access option through Orchard Park and housing north of the Baggie Minnow Pond.