A housing development in Hamilton with over 150 properties has been given the go-ahead.

Councillors at the planning committee meeting on Tuesday (February 15) approved the residential development of 163 homes in the town.

The proposal was put forward by Lovell Partnerships Ltd who plan to develop the housing on the former Phillips Factory site on Wellhall Road. 

The site is currently vacant with all buildings within the site having recently been demolished and includes an internal road system, large areas of hardstanding grass and shrubs with mature trees.

The homes will consist of a variety of building types with a mix of detached, semi-detached, terraced and flatted dwellings as well as an area of affordable housing located at the site.

Homes will range from two to five bedrooms with designated parking spaces, and the council’s housing services will take ownership of 40 of the properties.

Councillor Bert Thomson, for Blantyre, said:  “Are you satisfied that the infrastructure is or will be in place, has the thoughts and observations of people living there taken into account?”

The planners have looked at educational and community facilities for residents and there will be roads and access to the site with traffic measures in place.

The applicant will be asked to pay financial contributions at appropriate stages of the development to the provision of an additional nursery, primary and secondary schools.  Councillor Lynne Nailon, for Hamilton South, said:  “I’m very familiar with this area and the congestion that arises there at peak times, it is horrendous and as a development of this size I can’t imagine the number of vehicles that will be generated.

“I’d like to see if information could be circulated on traffic management information, and traffic control systems, I can’t imagine what they could do to ease congestion in this area.”

There will be measures in place to mitigate the impact of heavy traffic, with hopes to avoid large volumes of congestion.

Councillor Mary Donnelly, for Hamilton West and Earnock, said: “I welcome the 40 council houses that will be built in the area, but I do think there will need to be a bit of tweaking to the development.”