A controversial proposal to build up to 155 new houses on the site of a former quarry in Giffnock has been dropped.

Funding problems due to the economic downturn and a ruling by the Scottish government that the land could not be developed has effectively shelved the project.

East Renfrewshire Council and Macdonald Estates hoped to stabilise old mine workings at the fenced-off Braidbar Quarry site and return it to use.

The Braidbar quarry, which has been abandoned for many decades, produced much of the grey sandstone used in Glasgow tenements in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Had it moved ahead the project would first have required the draining of 800,000 cubic metres of water from the flooded mine, excavation down to 45m to the base of the 15m high workings and the employment of reverse mining techniques to stabilise the failing rock.

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More than 2 million cubic metres of rock and clay would also have to be moved.

The plan had also attracted hundreds of objections from local people.

Leader of East Renfrewshire Council, Councillor Jim Fletcher, said: "The land at Braidbar is unfit for developing and is so unstable it is unsafe to walk on.

"This proposal would have brought this land into use for future generations and helped avoid the potential harm that keeps many of us awake at night.

"We are still reeling from the unexpected decision of the reporter that this proposal couldn't go ahead.

"With a credible and workable plan on the table it is astonishing that a decision to leave this ground in its unsafe state would be the reporter's preferred choice."

Managing director of Macdonald Estates, Kevin Robertson, said: "Having developed a thorough technical solution and method of stabilising the redundant quarry over a number of years we are disappointed that we are unable to take the project forward.

"However, the reporter's decision not to include the land for development in the local plan, coupled with the lack of availability of project funding, have made it uneconomic for us to continue to promote the project at the present time."

(JG/CD)