Office to housing plans refused over lack of parking

Offices on Glasgow’s Great Western Road cannot be converted into flats, the city council has ruled.

Partick Housing Association had launched an appeal after the council failed to decide on the plans in the required timeframe.

But the local review committee turned down the Anniesland Cross application, raising concerns over the number of car parking spaces included.

The housing association had proposed 17 flats for social rent, but only four parking spaces for residents.

Parts of the ground floor, and a small area on the first floor, are occupied by Domino’s Pizza and Bank of Scotland, who share two parking spaces.

Bailie Glenn Elder said: “Firstly, I should say there is absolutely the need for this type of development.

“I’m sure something can be developed in that area, I just don’t think this is the proper application as it stands.”

He said the committee could allow for some reduction in parking, but the proposal was for less than 25%.

Lack of amenity space for the residents also stopped him from approving the plan, he said. And councillor Michael Cullen, who chaired the committee, added there was not “adequate enough space”.

Reasons given for the refusal included the failure “to provide adequate residential parking to the detriment of the local area in terms of further aggravating on-street parking pressures”.

Two objections to the plan were received by the council and both referred to parking problems.

One nearby resident said: “Parking and traffic flow is already an issue on Great Western Road and the conversion of the office block will only exacerbate this issue for current residents in surrounding flats.

“The car park situated at the back of the block does not have an adequate number of spaces to accommodate the proposed number of flats.”

However, the applicant had claimed the parking demands for 17 flats were “far less than the parking requirements for an office building”.

The housing wanted to convert the upper floors of the building into a mix of one and two-bedroom flats.

Representatives claimed council staff had stopped responding to correspondence over a five-month period, in which the application should have been determined.

The plans stated demand for offices in the area is “extremely thin” but the block offered an “excellent opportunity for conversion”. There would have been 51 spaces for bikes.

Social rented flats “would make good use of an existing redundant building and make a positive contribution towards addressing housing need in the city”, the plans added.

Outdoor space for residents would have been restricted to a rear courtyard, with an elevated deck providing a private garden for communal growing areas, seating, and drying areas.

By local democracy reporter Drew Sandelands