The 33 acre site and the old John Brown shipbuilding yard has only been partially developed so far on the eastern side with a business park and campus for Clydebank’s West College Scotland erected, although it is mainly vacant.

The Titan Crane, which the council acquired for £800,000 in January along with the assets of Clydebank Rebuilt, also stands on the plot of the land although it’s hoped in future years the area will be transformed into a thriving development.

The Post also revealed last month how bosses at supermarket giant Morrisons — who have previously staged crunch talks with the Queens Quay’s developers — were again contemplating an ambitious move to the site.

However, in recent years, the recession coupled with the fact that much of the land is below the height required to meet planning conditions, have hampered any efforts to regenerate the area.

In a bid to remedy the problem, the site’s owners have sought to obtain the 250,000 tonnes of material needed to bring the land up to the required height, using the debris from demolished former buildings and imported construction waste.

This material is then crushed by machinery at a plant until it is ready to be spread on the site and levelled off.

But over the last three years less than a third of the material required has been brought onto the site.

The Queens Quay owners have blamed a limited number of contracts from which they have received construction waste but now say they have now secured several major contracts which should significantly increase the amount of material available.

They are now hoping to be able to extend the length of time given to them to allow them to finish the work.

A report by Richard Cairns, executive director of infrastructure and regeneration, says any action which would contribute towards the future development of the site should be supported.

It reads: “Queens Quay is one of the most important development sites within West Dunbartonshire, the regeneration of which is strongly supported by development plan policies and is a priority for the council.

“The redevelopment of the site has been delayed due to the recession, but in the meantime any works which can be carried out to the site which will contribute towards its future development are to be welcomed.

“Therefore, it is considered the continued operation of the construction waste centre is to be supported, as is the applicant’s assurance that the speed of material importation is likely to increase over the next few years.” Concerns about the noise created by the lorries delivering material to the site, the stone crushing plant and the movement of diggers and lorries, have also been played down and councillors have been urged to allow work to continue. Mr Cairns’ report adds: “Securing the regeneration of this important site as a high quality mixed-use development is one of the council’s main planning priorities, and it is important that no development which would hinder that objective is allowed to go ahead.

“It is unfortunate that the outline permission for mixed housing and commercial development have not yet taken place. However, the construction waste operation is making an important contribution towards preparing the site for redevelopment.” A final decision is expected to be taken at West Dunbartonshire Council’s planning meeting next Wednesday.