The new proposals for the Mill of Forest site include the delivery of a new supermarket, community facilities, employment land, a hotel and 500 homes, 125 of which will be affordable. A new road bridge would also be built across the A90.

Initial plans by developers Drum Property Group and Barratt North Scotland to build 1,500 new homes at the site were rejected by councillors late last year.

Drum and Barratt held a public exhibition last month to showcase the new plans, which were designed by Halliday Fraser Munro.

Before the consultation Chris Ross, senior land manager for Barratt North Scotland, said: “We have listened carefully to the views of the local community over the last few years and what is very clear is that there is a real need to start delivering a mix of homes to match all incomes within the area.

“While we have reduced our proposed homes from 1,500 to 500, we are fully committed to delivering 125 affordable homes to start to address the current imbalance.”

He added that Mill of Forest would be “a sustainable and sympathetic expansion of the town, allowing it to thrive and flourish”.