The transfer marks a significant milestone for the £34 million Glasgow City Region City Deal project. The 150-acre site is currently undergoing extensive remediation to prepare it, and the council will start work on the land when this is complete.

As part of the deal, the council takes ownership of the whole site, running from Eastfield near Scotts Yard at Bowling Harbour, to Westfield and Sheepfold at Glasgow Road, Milton, without cost. The council will also receive £1 million from ExxonMobil.

Of the 150 acres, 45 acres will be developable land, and it is proposed that a further two acres are used for the creation of a new road, which would provide an alternative route through West Dunbartonshire.

It comes three months after elected members in West Dunbartonshire approved officers’ plans to progress a commercial deal with ExxonMobil. Missives on the land were signed this week.

All land will be remediated by ExxonMobil to standards agreed by the council’s environmental health team and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), with their strategy approved by planning committee last year. This process is expected to take two years.

Following successful remediation, the council will undertake its own development works.

The transfer of ownership follows an application for planning permission in principle for the project made on behalf of the council last month.

It details proposals to locate office and industrial development in Eastfield, business in Centrefield and storage and distribution in the Westfield areas.

The application also describes plans for landscaping, open space, green corridors and public spaces as well as a new 1.95km link road with upgraded A82 and A814 access junctions alongside a railway underpass and overbridge.

A heritage area identified around Dunglass Castle and a protection zone is included in the application to ensure the listed structure and its setting are not compromised as the site develops and evolves.

Council officers are currently negotiating with surrounding landowners regarding the transfer of their land ownership to enable the wider development.