HUNDREDS of new homes and a business village are to be built next to the historic Scotland Street School.

Planning bosses have agreed a plan in principle to allow developers, Zephyr Scotland, to transform the former James Howden & Co site in Tradeston.

Zephyr want to create around 230 homes, shops, cafes and business units on the plot, which surrounds the Charles Rennie Macintosh designed school on three sides.

Much of the site is category B Listed but work is ongoing with Historic Environment Scotland to establish whether the less significant buildings can be demolished.

Blair Greenock, Glasgow City Council’s development officer, said: “There have been various attempts to market the site over the years, but none have come to fruition. A lot of them involved the aggressive removal of the listed buildings. Historic Scotland have steadfastly resisted that.

“The retention and conversion of the listed buildings to business space would involve a significant level of intervention, both physically and financially given their current condition.

“As such, this current application seeks to establish the principle of residential development within a large portion of the site as a means of providing a ‘cross funding’ option.

“Overall, the main activities on site would be business space and residential uses with an element of small-scale commercial uses in the form of retail, office, restaurant and café space.

“The site represents a unicorn. Very rarely do you get the heritage and physical aspects of that this site has. We think it represents the opportunity for a fairly ambitious scheme.

“The architect has put the school very much at the forefront and is seeking to enhance its setting.”

No objections to the plans have been received by the council.

But planning committee member Tanya Wisely said: “I can see the appeal of the proposal, but I have a number of concerns. This site is not in a community setting, so it puts an onus on the committee to offer the scrutiny that a resident would normally offer.”

Ms Wisely also raised concerns that the surrounding motorways could mean potential residents are exposed to poor air quality.

But Annette Christy said: “I think its fantastic and long overdue. We’ve spoken about the history and how it was industrial. I’ve seen it change dramatically over the last 10 years. It’s great.”

Page/Park Architects have been designing the plan with Zephyr Scotland.