COUNCILLORS have unanimously decided to withdraw from negotiations to sell two 'parcels' of land near Kirn Drive in Gourock.

The council had been in talks with a developer who proposed building 98 new private properties on the two plots of empty ground at either end of the street.

The proposal attracted criticism from people living in the area, who were concerned about congestion and the influx of more vehicles.

A key part of the development would have seen Kirn Drive widened to tackle long-standing congestion issues.

The controversial Gourock development looked set to go ahead despite almost 100 objections but following further discussion at the environment and regeneration committee the plug has been pulled.

SNP group leader Councillor Chris McEleny intervened and said he believed the local authority should withdraw from negotiations for the proposed disposal of the land.

Mr McEleny told colleagues on the environment and regeneration committee he didn’t think it would improve the area.

Fellow councillors agreed, meaning the land at Kirn Drive will not be sold.

Councillor McEleny said: “Over the past while I have listened closely to members of the community about this.

"Concerns have been raised about the ability of an already saturated road network with known issues to be able to sustain future development.

“I am not against development, but housing developments need to actually develop a community for the better.

"At this moment in time I am not satisfied that the proposals this sale could have led to would do that."

But the door could still be ajar for developers to return at a later date.

Mr McEleny said: “There is certainly a need to improve the roads infrastructure in this part of Inverclyde.

"Once this has been done, if people think the improvements are to such an extent that the area could sustain more housing I will be happy to listen to their views on that.

"Until then it was the common sense choice to back the overwhelming view of the community.”

A spokesperson for Inverclyde Council said: “Members of the environment and regeneration committee unanimously decided to withdraw from negotiations to sell two parcels of land near Kirn Drive in Gourock.

“The council had been in talks to sell the land to a developer who wanted to build 98 homes in the area.

"The sale will not go ahead now.”