Queensberry Properties, a joint venture between Cruden Homes and Buccleuch Property, has won its appeal to develop land beside the River Kelvin at Otago Lane in Glasgow’s West End.
The application by Queensberry Properties for 49 apartments in three six and seven-storey blocks was rejected by planners in 2021.
The proposal, aimed to improve on a plan for 45 flats and four townhouses for which planning consent was granted in 2016. However, the location of these apartments in the earlier application had raised buildability issues on the sloping site and that the landscaped area with path to the river edge would “no longer be considered appropriate as it would be too disruptive to the wildlife in the green corridor” and two of the blocks were to be located on the river’s edge and would no longer satisfy current flood risk requirements.
The new planning application aimed to address these issues by moving the buildings away from the river bank and creating a more substantial, bio-diverse green corridor.
The revised plans also provide the opportunity to consolidate and improve the existing green corridor along the river edge and therefore secure its habitat, environmental and visual benefits.
The development sits behind the 15-metre contour of the river bank and above the flood plain, and the architectural character of the proposed blocks aims to fit with the existing tenemental and warehouse architecture that occurs between Gibson Street and Kelvinbridge.
Queensberry’s appeal was considered by councillors on Glasgow’s local review committee (9 May 2023) and they voted 6:3 in favour of approving the application.
