More than 170 homes are set to be built on empty land at Dalmarnock to ‘help tackle Glasgow’s housing emergency’.

City councillors have approved a proposal from CCG Homes to provide a mix of private and social housing on French Street near Police Scotland’s headquarters.

Part of a wider masterplan to regenerate the area, the scheme will see Thenue Housing Association offer 119 homes for social rent. There will be 114 flats and five three-bedroom terraced houses.

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The homes built for private sale will include 26 three-bedroom terraced houses and 28 four-bedroom townhouses.

Plans submitted on behalf of the applicant stated the site currently “creates an impression of abandonment” but the development will “make a positive contribution to the ongoing regeneration of South Dalmarnock”.

They added it will “go some way in tackling the housing emergency” declared by the council last year.

The land, empty since the 1970s, has been allocated for residential use due to the demand for housing in the city. Glasgow declared a housing emergency due to increasing pressure on homelessness services.

One objection and two representations to the plan were received by the council, with concerns including the loss of daylight for nearby homes on Carstairs Street and “the lack of amenities in Dalmarnock itself”, such as shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants.

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Cllr Thomas Kerr, Conservative, said he was “concerned that we are tossing more and more houses up without then looking at the amenities we need to have in that area”.

He added: “Knowing local people, there is a feeling that after the Commonwealth Games in 2014, a lot of the community was knocked down, built up, and now we’re still having repercussions of what was built in its place.”

However, he backed the plan as he is “very aware that the city is facing a housing crisis and, in general terms, I think this is a very good development actually”.

He said there needs to be long-term thinking to make sure “people have communities they want to live in”, with access to shops and medical facilities.

Planners reported the masterplan aims to “accelerate change, attract investment and achieve wider benefits for communities”. They said plans for other uses, including a cafe and a Lidl, in the area have also been approved.

Cllr Ken Andrew, SNP, the planning committee chairman, said: “I am certainly quite heartened to see this. I like the idea that we have got a good variation of housing types and tenures. 

“We have mid-market rent, not within this application, but certainly close by. We have good active travel access into the city.”

Council officials also reported the loss of 36 trees on French Street is “regrettable” but they had “low retention value due to their poor condition/health”.

They added 77 new trees will be planted throughout the site.

A separate planning application has also been submitted which would deliver a “landscaped amenity area comprising equipped play areas suitable for children of all ages” on neighbouring land.

There will be 53 car parking spaces for the flats, one for each of the private houses and 25 spaces for visitors.