Developers have torn up plans for Perth’s highly controversial Almond Valley expansion.
The latest bid to build around 1,400 homes on the outskirts of the city has been formally withdrawn, agents confirmed.
However, the project will be resurrected within days.
The Pilkington Trust, which is spearheading the project, has already submitted a whole new set of plans to council officers, having made some “minor adjustments”.
The highly unusual step means that a second 28-day public consultation will need to be held and valid objections will have to be re-submitted.
Director Alastair Wood of agents Savills who represent the trust said the move was needed to make sure everyone with an interest in the project got their say.
“It has given us the chance to take on board all the comments raised,” he said.
As well as creating more than 1,000 homes, the trust wants to build a primary school, leisure facilities and cycle routes between Ruthvenfield and Huntingtowerfield.
Local authority planners received more than 70 letters and e-mails calling for the latest plan to be abandoned.
In his letter, Kenny Simpson, chairman of the Methven and District Community Council, said: “For over 20 years, local residents have emphasised again and again that they value the village character and do not want to be engulfed by the expanding city of Perth.
“They see the small villages being swamped and they see Almondbank and Pitcairngreen also losing their identity.”
He said the expansion would be created at the expense of local residents’ way of life and claimed housing targets to create 700 properties by 2024 were “ridiculously high”.
Historic Scotland also objected to the plan, claiming it could have a “significant adverse impact” on a prehistoric burial cairn at Huntingtower.
Leading Perth business Vector Aerospace International, which has land within the development site, also called for the scheme to be scrapped. The company said it had not been properly consulted, despite owning a community woodland area which would be developed as part of the plan.
In another letter of objection, one Ruthvenfield resident calls for the area to be preserved, saying: “It is a very special place. Perth is extremely lucky to have such a valuable asset on its doorstep.”