A developer determined to build houses on greenbelt land despite being knocked back by council planners and the Scottish Government could now appeal to the UK's highest court.
The company, Gladman, won a landmark ruling at the Court of Session last year which forced Inverclyde Council into a root and branch review of its local development plan (LDP).
But Scottish Ministers, who sparked that case after rejecting the firm's plans for Quarrier's Village, have again ruled against the proposed development at Carsemeadow — resulting in a potential hearing at the Supreme Court.
Members of the Inverclyde Planning Board — who first refused the application in 2019 — have now been reduced to powerless spectators in the seemingly endless legal process.
The case was discussed at a special meeting of the board this week, with members expressing their surprise at the latest events.
Councillor Jim Clocherty said: "It seems a strange way to run a planning system, going round and round on a mouse's wheel."
Council legal adviser Jim Kerr said that the company could again argue its case at the Court of Session, or even take it to the Supreme Court.
Mr Kerr added: "We just need to sit and wait to see what transpires."
An exasperated Councillor Clocherty asked: "Where does it all end?"
Stuart Jamieson, the council's interim service director for environment and economic recovery replied: "The simple answer to that is we don't know. It is one of the vagaries of planning."
Last September, Municipal Buildings chiefs were left scrambling to re-jig the LDP after the Court of Session ruled that it was 'flawed'.
An entire chapter of the document — on which work began back in 2016 — was rejected by the Court of Session after Gladman took the council to task over land supply and targets for new homes.
As a result of the court ruling, the council was left with an adopted LDP which has no housing policy.
Mr Jamieson described the situation at the time as 'turmoil' for the council.
Gladman had argued a specific housing shortfall at Carsemeadow and it was suggested that if the company's figures were correct, the balance in favour of development 'may be very substantial'.
The court ruled that the council's policy within the homes and communities section of its LDP was 'materially flawed' under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.
Scottish Ministers decided not to appeal the decision.
But they have stuck to their original decision to refuse Gladman permission to build on the site, concluding that there are 'no material considerations which would justify granting planning permission'.
The council has set itself what Mr Jamieson previously described as an 'ambitious' timescale to have a new housing policy in place by April next year.
Councillors are now set to discuss the details in private.
Mr Jamieson said: "My intention is to have a members' briefing with regard to what is going on with the LDP, taking it offline to discuss what is bouncing around the courts just now."
This article appeared in the Greenock Telegraph.