LAWYERS are questioning a crucial intervention by a councillor which led to the rejection of a bid to build 450 homes at Spango Valley in a £100m development — because he is a 'neighbour' of the site.

Innes Nelson — whose Chrisswell Farm home lies near the area where businessmen Sandy and James Easdale want to build — backed a recommendation by Inverclyde Council officials to cap the proposed development at 270 houses.

Mr Nelson tabled a successful motion at a planning board determination of the application, knowing that the McGill's buses tycoons had warned that the 40 per cent cut in the number of dwellings could make the project financially unviable.

Now a legal team acting on behalf of the Easdales is demanding to know why he did not declare an interest and abstain from taking any part in the quasi-judicial proceedings on March 2.

Adviser to the Inverclyde businessmen, Jack Irvine, said: "Our lawyers have written to the council to ask why Councillor Nelson was allowed to vote as a notifiable neighbour of the proposed development.

"Did he declare an interest?"

Mr Irvine added: "Councillor Nelson, a near neighbour of the site, must surely be aware of his party leader's commitment to engage the private building sector in the drive to build 100,000 new homes in the coming decade and create 14,000 jobs.

"If he isn't, he needs to give Nicola Sturgeon a call and start singing from the same hymn sheet."

Mr Nelson — at successive planning board meetings when the application was discussed — repeatedly voiced concerns about the volume of vehicular traffic that would ensue from any development of the former IBM site.

He was told a number of times that Transport Scotland had no issues with the entire Spango Valley area — part of which is owned by the Easdales — having a total of 420 homes built on it, as per the council's local development plan.

The planning board ultimately rejected a motion by member Jim McEleny to allow the businessmen to build up to 400 dwellings on their portion of the site, and voted 5-4 in favour of Mr Nelson's amendment.

The Easdales — who have been working with delivery partner Advance Construction — have plans for a major housing development, business space, a pub/restaurant and 'park and ride' facility at the old IBM Halt railway station.

They said in a statement issued immediately after the planning board decision: "We are bitterly disappointed that Inverclyde may potentially lose the opportunity to see this brownfield site regenerated for the benefit of the local region."

The Telegraph asked Innes Nelson for comment but he did not respond to our email.

Planning board convener David Wilson — who voted with former provost Robert Moran and independent Drew McKenzie in favour of the McEleny 400-houses motion — said: "Councillor Nelson can still pass an opinion.

"Our voting exemplified our differing opinion on the application."

An Inverclyde Council spokesman said: "Councillor Nelson did not declare an interest at this meeting of the planning board.

"It is a matter for an elected member to determine whether or not it is appropriate for them to declare an interest and excuse themselves from considering a planning application which is before them."