A new hotel and country club could be built on green belt land in Aberdeen as soon as 2018 after the Scottish Government gave planners the green light.
The £40million development on the fringes of Hazlehead Park is set to bring 200 bedrooms, a restaurant, spa and new swimming pool to Aberdeen.
It is expected to create more than 300 jobs and generate more than £10million each year for the economy of the north-east.
Last month, the council voted 28-7 in favour of the development.
The proposal was then passed onto the Scottish Government to decide whether to intervene given that the green belt land is protected under planning policy.
In a letter sent to Aberdeen City Council, the government set out its position.
Planner Iain McLeod said: “It is not for the Scottish Ministers’ intention to intervene in this application by either issuing a direction restricting the granting of planning permission or by calling in the application for their own determination.”
Work could begin by the end of the year.
Developers Carlton Rock, the firm behind the proposals, must make certain payments because of planning obligations.
These include £120,000 for woodland management, £180,000 to upgrade paths and £120,000 for roads in Hazlehead.
A spokesman for Scottish Government said: “Ministers exercise their power of calling in planning applications very sparingly and only where a proposal raises issues of genuine national importance.
“Ministers were, therefore, content to leave the decision making on this particular proposal to the local planning authority.”