Barratt Homes West Scotland Ltd had proposed to build homes and associated infrastructure at the Seven Sisters Field site.

An online petition aimed at halting the Seven Sisters Field development received 230 signatures earlier this year, with campaigners warning the community’s infrastructure, including the school, roads and health services, wouldn’t be able to cope even with significant investment.

The development was already the focus of a lengthy planning struggle which finally resulted in permission in principle being granted for housing last year, The Stirling Observer reports.

Permission was originally refused in 2014 when Hallam Land Management submitted an application to build 170 new homes on the site.

The latest application by Barratt sought to address the concerns. During the hearing, David Jinks, planning manager for Barratt Homes West Scotland, and the company’s technical director Gary McKinnon, told panel members the developer was “fully committed to an attractive development that hopefully will be an asset to the local community”.

They said 40% of the site would be open space and there would be a range of one to four-bedroom homes “for a large variety of budgets and circumstances”, with demand already strong for the location. An extra classroom would be funded at the school and there would also be affordable homes built, to be owned and managed by Forth Housing Association, and the layout, access and space had been designed to respect the masterplan.

However, a motion to reject the application on grounds including overdevelopment was backed unanimously.