WRC Recyling, which is currently based in Johnstone, has applied to Renfrewshire Council to move its operation to Inchinnan.

The firm launched the bid for a cross-county move after the firm fell foul of Johnstone residents by causing homes to be plagued by flies and evacuated due to a fierce fire.

The site the copmany has earmarked for its operations is in Inchinnan’s Newmains Avenue.

But The Gazette can reveal that one of Renfrewshire Council’s own experts said Inchinnan Business Park “would not be suitable” for WRC.

However, the council insists this was at the very early stages of the planning process before all matters were taken into consideration.

Almost a year ago senior project executive Ken Goldie wrote to fellow council workers David Bryce, a development standards manager, and senior planner Diane Beveridge about the proposed Inchinnan site.

In the email, sent on July 30, 2013, Mr Goldie said he had been looking for a site big enough for WRC to move to based on the information the firm had given him.

The senior project executive – who works for the council’s planning and economic development service – noted that WRC said it needed a “shed” that was 40,000 square feet, next to a plot of land seven or eight acres in size.

And he said that WRC wanted a piece of land so large that there was nothing suitable in the whole county.

He wrote: “This combination of available land and buildings at a single just does not exist in Renfrewshire, at least according to the comprehensive database to which the council subscribes.

“That said, there are some entries that might be close enough and some decent sized plots of land.

“As we discussed I have taken out entries in areas – e.g. Renfrew Riverside and Inchinnan Business Park – which would not be suitable locations for the proposed use.” Because there were no sites in WRC’s exact specifications available, Goldie told his colleagues that the firm would have to come to “a trade off”.

He said the company would have to choose between somewhere with “more buildings floor area and less land or land with a need for accommodation to be constructed”.

And he described the proposed new sites, which WRC would look to buy as opposed to rent, as “decent possibilities” and said he would be “happy to meet” his colleagues “and WRC’s agent to chat over them, and any earlier options that we have placed their way”.

Although Goldie did not give WRC Inchinnan Business Park as an option and described it as being unsuitable, that is the very location the firm is now seeking to move to.

The email was contained in documents released following a recent Freedom of Information request by Councillor Iain Nicolson.

And the SNP-man hit out this week in the wake of the revelation.

He said: “I submitted a freedom of information request on the council’s dealings with regard to relocating an existing waste recycling facility which is in Johnstone.

“What I found interesting and surprising is that many senior officers have been involved in high level discussions and have expressed an opinion on the proposals.

“Some of them have expressed severe concerns on the impact it would have in Inchinnan.

“These comments should be part of the assessment process and not ignored I will be demanding that their views are a valid contribution to the debate.” A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “It is common for officials from a wide range of disciplines to be involved at the very early stages of projects or applications to express their views, for example, on proposed sites for development.

“It would be unfair to take out of context one internal email expressing the opinion of one officer, a year before any decision is made and before all the information about the proposed development is known, as representing the council’s considered views.

“The planning service considers all views expressed, internal and external and gives appropriate weight to those views, where they are based on material planning considerations, before any recommendation and assessment is finalised.”