A DECISION on whether to approve plans for 57 new homes at Braehead has been put on hold after Renfrewshire Council’s leader expressed fears about the suitability of the location.

Park Lane Group wants to build 18 flats and 39 houses on a patch of grassland in Row Avenue, close to the Steam Wheeler pub.

Council officers recommended the application be given the green light, arguing it would help to provide a “diversification of uses in the area.”

But at the latest meeting of the planning board, elected members opted to carry out a site visit before making the call after Councillor Iain Nicolson voiced concerns over whether the two-hectare site is suitable for a housing development.

The council leader pointed out there are no other residential areas nearby, with the site bordered by the pub to the north-east, Premier Inn to the south, Dobbies Garden Centre to the north and Renfrew Road to the west.

He told the meeting: “If you look at the location, we appear to be agreeing to what I would call a residential island being created here.

“There’s no immediate housing connected to this site. You’ve got the M8 backed up to it and garden centres and industrial units all around it.

“My understanding of basic planning is that residential developments should fit in with surrounding uses, so I can’t see how this works.”

Conservative councillor Neill Graham argued there was no issue with building houses in the area and moved to grant the application but the board opted for a site visit by 11 votes to four.

The plans will be considered again at a future meeting once that site visit has been completed.

If the blueprint is eventually accepted, Park Lane Group plans to build a mixture of terraced houses and flats.

Three-storey blocks of flats are proposed to the north-east and north-west of the site.