PLANS to build new houses at a former school site in Greenock have been approved - despite a last minute bid to have them rejected for failing to meet open space rules.

Councillors on Inverclyde Council's planning board voted to grant permission for 30 three-bedroom homes on land at Madeira Street which was once the home of Greenock Academy.

But ward councillor Graeme Brooks objected to the proposals on the grounds that they did not provide the required amount of open space.

Council planners had stated in their report that the development did not meet the local authority's public open space rules, falling 700 square metres short of the required area.

However, the officials said that they felt the presence of nearby amenity spaces such as Lyle Park and the Fox Street playpark justified a departure from the requirements.

They recommended that members of the board granted the application subject to 22 conditions.

These include requirements to conduct bird surveys if trees are removed during the nesting season and a stipulation that five per cent of the development has to be wheelchair-accessible housing.

Speaking in support of the application, Councillor Stephen McCabe said: "This is a worthwhile application that will add significantly to the quality of housing stock in Inverclyde."

The new development will comprise of 24 three-storey homes with six two-and-a-half storey terraced houses.

Objectors to the application had raised concerns about roads, traffic and parking, and the impact of the development on the west end conservation area, residential amenity, and the local environment.

Most of the former school site has lain empty since demolition in 2015, with the upper part of the land being redeveloped into a nursery in 2018.

After the school closed in 2011, the empty building was used as a set for BBC drama series Waterloo Road before being cleared a few years later when filming came to an end.

The top part of the site was turned into a nursery while the lower end was sold off by the council.

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