An appeal to overturn a decision to turn down plans to build a supermarket, school and 250 homes in Stonehaven has been rejected by the Scottish Government.

The proposed Stewart Milne Homes development at Mains of Cowie was rejected by Aberdeenshire Council on the same day it approved a supermarket, 50-bedroom hotel and restaurant on the Ury Estate, submitted by the FM Group.

An application by Drum Property Group and Barratt North Scotland for a mixed-use scheme comprising 500 residential units, employment and retail uses at Mill of Forest, Stonehaven was also turned down on the day.

Stewart Milne Homes lodged an appeal with the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) but government planners have upheld the original decision, stating the one supermarket at Ury Estate will be enough to serve the region.

In his decision, David Russell, a reporter appointed by the Scottish Ministers, said: “The reporters concluded the decision to grant planning permission for the Ury Estate site had undermined the potential justification for the allocation of land at Mains of Cowie for retail development, and they did not recommend that the plan should be modified to include such an allocation.”

The Scottish Government said: “The appellant has subsequently suggested that granting planning permission in principle would still be justified in relation to the retail element, mainly because the appeal site remains better related to the town.

“However, as that does not mean that appropriate retailers would not be willing to operate from the Ury Estate site, the potential for two substantial retail developments to be implemented cannot be discounted.”

Stewart Milne Homes’ original plans for 400 homes at the Mains of Cowie were rejected by the Kincardine and Mearns area committee in 2015.

A scaled-down version of the development was then submitted to the council.

Despite this, the Scottish Government added that no allocation has been made in the local development plan for a new primary school in Stonehaven.

A Stewart Milne Group spokeswoman said it would continue to look at what could be done with the site.