CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating after Renfrewshire Council rejected plans to build more than 100 homes on greenbelt land in Lochwinnoch.

At a full council meeting last Thursday, councillors voted down the application from Leith Planning, which wanted to build a major development at a site near Johnshill sparking more than 1,300 formal objections.

As reported in the Gazette, council planners had recommended the rejection of the application based on the unsuitability of the site and potential impact on village infrastructure.

Councillor Derek Bibby, who represents Johnstone North, Kilbarchan and Lochwinnoch told the Gazette of local residents’ relief at the outcome of the vote.

He said: “The 1,360 objections to the proposal illustrates the local strength of feeling against the plan.

“The people of Lochwinnoch have spoken and it is only right councillors have listened to their views.

“This development would have had a major detrimental impact on the village and surrounding area.”

As Lochwinnoch Community Council noted in representations to the council’s planning department, the development would have had “damaging consequences” in terms of increased traffic congestion, the landscape and wildlife.

Cllr Bibby added: “While I acknowledge there is a need for more housing, but housing that meets the needs of local folk, this was simply the wrong development in the wrong place.

“The people of Lochwinnoch have shown that their absolute priority is to protect their villages status.

“I along with my local colleague Cllr Chris Gilmour, support the protection of the green belt and will continue to provide unwavering support to local folk not only in Lochwinnoch but also in Kilbarchan and Howwood in their opposition to any development which potentially damages the identity of their respective villages.”