The application by North Lanarkshire Council sets out a masterplan to shape the development of around 600 homes on a 40-hectare site at Mid Forest.

It will include a range of flats, terraced houses and villas with 25% to be affordable housing. There will also be a central play area with a multi-use games area and an area of land for a small retail unit.

Footpaths will link to the nearby Palacerigg Country Park and the Scottish Wildlife Trust Forest Wood Nature Reserve.

The site is owned primarily by the council and the housing sites will be marketed for sale for its estates service.

“Approval of this planning application is an important step to creating 600 much-needed modern, new homes for people in Cumbernauld,” said James McKinstry, head of asset and procurement solutions.

The development is within South Cumbernauld Community Growth Area (CGA), which also includes an additional site at Palacerigg. The CGA was identified in 2006 as a potential location for up to 2,000 new homes by 2025 to help meet demand for new housing in the local area.

Detailed plans for the marketing of the housing sites will now be developed by the council’s estates service in line with the CGA’s Strategic Development Framework. The Framework, which was approved in June 2016 following public consultation, sets out principles to ensure developments in the CGA meet the needs of the community, link effectively with infrastructure such as the transport network and education facilities, have high standards of design and build, and be environmentally sustainable.