Plans for up to 433 new homes on a site at the western edge of Cowie, which were refused by Stirling Council last year, have been given approval for the Scottish Government Reporter.

Taylor Wimpey had applied for planning permission in principle for two adjoining housing proposals as part of its masterplan for land at Berryhills.

Although the sites are allocated in the adopted Local Development Plan, the local authority rejected the proposals in July last year after agreement could not be reached with the developers to provide education contributions.

It was deemed by the council’s Planning and Regulation Panel that the developments would not provide fair and reasonable contributions proportionate to the scale and nature of the developments with regards to contributions to school capacities.

Now it appears that the government Reporter has overturned this decision.

Pauline Mills, land and planning director for Taylor Wimpey East Scotland, said: “We would like to take this opportunity to confirm the Scottish Government Reporter has issued a Notice of Intention to allow our appeal in respect of our Planning Permission in Principle application.

“This decision provides planning consent for up to 433 new homes as part of our masterplan vision for land at Berryhills, Cowie, and is subject to an appropriate legal agreement between ourselves and Stirling Council to cover planning contributions that will be specifically targeted towards education, transport and waste.

“As well as new homes, our plans for the development include a nature park, formal public open spaces, community areas, land for employment uses and links to the existing community of Cowie. The decision by the Reporter signals an exciting step forward in the delivery of the development, which we believe will bring a number of positive benefits to the local area.

“Berryhills is allocated for new housing in Stirling Council’s Local Development Plan which was adopted in September 2014, and we look forward to positive discussions with the local authority in order to progress this development.

“We will continue to keep the local community informed of our progress.”