Glasgow residents concerned over proposed student and rental flats

Several residents in Calton claim their objections to the scale of the £95 million Collegelands Park development are not being listened to.

Plans for the site were lodged with Glasgow City Council (GCC) by Glasgow Enlightenment Limited – a joint venture between Dawn Developments Ltd and the Drum Property Group – earlier this month following a three-month community consultation period.

Concerns raised by locals include a reported lack of infrastructure to support the increase in people, waste management, potential impact on rental costs, and removing ‘the only green space left in the area’.

(Image: Gordon Terris)

Jane Sillars, a local resident, worries that the site is being “massively overdeveloped”.

She said: “There are already three student blocks on that site and then if you go down to Aldi on High Street there are another two huge blocks there.

“What they are doing on that little piece of land, if all the properties are occupied, is putting almost 1000 people into the area.

“People did feel positive that this site is going to be developed because it was wasteland but we think they are massively overdoing it.

“The grass space on Hunter Street should be left as an open space for people to walk on, that’s how it is currently used.

“There is also zero parking and people will have cars. If they build this and we don’t like it we’ll sell and move away.

“That’s certainly on the cards.”

A view of Glasgow Necropolis from the proposed site (Image: Newsquest staff)

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The plans - which are the final phase of a wider multi-use residential development - propose building two new student accommodation blocks with 591 beds in total and a further 147 rental apartments.

If approved it would also feature a 2.5-acre park, a contemporary arts centre with a hireable event space, a community lounge and café opening out to the courtyard, ‘happy to chat benches’, free wi-fi, charging points, and spaces that encourage outdoor remote working.

The proposed look (Image: Sourced)

Collegelands Park proposal (Image: Sourced)

The new neighbourhood will be built on the last gap site of the Collegelands development which was launched more than 20 years ago to help regenerate the Calton area.

So far it is made up of three housing accommodations containing 588, 243, and 458 beds, a 1170 space multi-storey car park, a Moxy Hotel and a 90,000 square feet office space.

The current site (Image: Newsquest staff) (Image: Sourced)

Riah Naief, who runs the Listen Gallery on nearby Hunter Street, explained she ‘wouldn’t be able to survive’ if there was a rent increase.

She said: “There’s so much about the community consultation that I feel was a missed opportunity. We are not opposing students staying here.

“These communities have been essential to us but I think the problem is these sites are being mismanaged.

“Every year we see sofas, bicycles, all of these items being thrown away, going straight to landfill.

"There doesn’t seem to be pressure on these sites to think about the waste and how it is managed.

“There is also all this infrastructure missing to support student living and this is removing the only green space for us.

“We are coming up to our fourth year here and we won’t be able to survive if there’s a rent increase.

“The cultural sector is in a scary position as it is and it just feels like we’ve not been involved or considered in terms of how this could impact us.”

(Image: Newsquest staff)

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Paul O'Donnell, of Glasgow Enlightenment, said: "We have consulted extensively with local people and Calton Community Council not just during the three-month consultation period but over the past two years.

“The final development plan is based on those discussions, reflecting the desire of the community to have open space and amenities, which currently don’t exist in the area.

"There is no significant green space in this part of Calton, our plans are to transform what is currently a disused area of wasteland into a 2.5-acre park which will not be fenced and will be open to the public.

"During the consultation period, some concerns were raised about the height of the buildings; our designs evolved to take on board not just comments from the local authority but the community itself, reducing not just height but massing and visual impact.

"We will continue to work closely with both the local community and GCC throughout the planning process to ensure the development is a great addition to the local area.”

GCC planning officials are reviewing the plans and a decision is expected by Friday, January 31, 2025.