A house building firm has lost its fight to increase the number of homes it can construct on a site in Aberdeenshire.
Stewart Milne Homes wanted to have the 840-home cap on its development at Schoolhill, Portlethen, removed.
But local councillors rejected the plans earlier this year, amid concerns that local amenities would not be able to cope.
The developers appealed to the Scottish Government, but now a Reporter has echoed the concerns of locals and upheld the Kincardine and Mearns area committee’s refusal.
Stewart Milne Homes has already built 773 properties on the Schoolhill site, with a further 67 due to be completed next year.
The firm was keen to develop another area of land within the settlement, in the hope of building a further 190-260 houses.
But in her ruling, reporter Sinead Lynch acknowledged there were a “number of objections” relating to the application, and noted that Transport Scotland had suggested the expansion be limited to 190 to prevent any potential adverse impact on the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen road.
Ms Lynch was also concerned about the impact of lifting the cap on local amenities – and warned it would put the yet-to-built Hillside Primary School overcapacity in its first year.
She said an additional 190 homes would mean almost 80 more places would have to be found at the area’s already cramped schools.
“The existing Portlethen primary school will have an excess capacity of 281 pupils in 2017,” she said.
“When the 76 pupils from the proposed development are accommodated, the new Hillside Primary School would be overcapacity within one year of opening as a consequence of this development.
“The new primary school will have the potential to be expanded to accommodate 540 pupils, but at present the council has not identified the capital funding to build the minimal capacity building, let along the expanded one.”
She said provision of healthcare facilities had also influenced her decision.
“The existing Portlethen Medical Centre is at or over-capacity and a number of submissions have been made, including one from staff at the medical centre, expressing concern about the potential impact of additional homes at Schoolhill on their capacity to provide adequate healthcare services,” she said.