Guild Homes lodged plans in 2021 for what it said was the “natural expansion” of its Strathmore Fields development beside the Forfar community campus.

The company challenged Angus Council’s nondetermination of the application but in August 2022 the Scottish Government dismissed its appeal. A reporter criticised its design and layout, saying it wasn’t “sustainable proposal overall terms.”

Guild Homes submitted revised plans for the £50 million expansion just a month later which it hoped would address the issues raised by the government reporter.

But in newly issued findings, another reporter has reached the same conclusion.

The Turfbeg West plan would have doubled the size of the Guild Homes’ Strathmore Fields development towards the town’s bypass.

The farmland in question between Kirriemuir Road and Garth Farm near the A90 is not currently allocated for housing in the local plan.

The firm said the appeal knockback was a “huge disappointment” and claims it has been denied the chance to deliver new homes because Angus Council’s plan is “years behind schedule”.

However, the Scottish Government reporter who handled the appeal said that even if the Guild scheme hadn’t breached national planning policies, he would have refused it because of its poor design.

Company director Mark Guild said: “The refusal is of huge disappointment for Guild Homes staff, subcontractors, suppliers and many potential customers.

“We made the planning application for Turfbeg West three years ago as we believed there was a huge need for housing in the Forfar/Kirriemuir area and predicted none of the housing sites allocated by Angus Council would deliver.

“We are now three years on. A housing emergency has been declared, both by Angus Council and the Scottish Government, and, as we predicted, other than Guild Homes the other housing sites in the Forfar/ Kirriemuir area have delivered little or no homes.

“We have spent three years and half a million pounds fighting to deliver housing at Turfbeg West.

“The Scottish Government and Angus Council have spent three years trying to stop us.

“This planning application was only necessary as Angus Council did not produce a new local development plan to allocate land for housing in 2021 as promised, and now tell us a new plan to allocate housing will not now be produced until 2029 at the earliest – that’s at least eight years late.”

Mr Guild added: “Angus Council want new housing at Turfbeg West refused as it is not an allocated site, yet deny us the opportunity to have land allocated for housing as they have not produced their 2021 local development plan.

“The Angus Council position is clear, no land allocation for housing equals no planning permission, equals no housing to build, and all in the middle of a housing crisis.

“Turfbeg West is ready for development.

“However, with limited allocated land left in Angus to build houses, it is no surprise there are so few local housebuilders left.”