A new community hub with sports facilities and a library will be created in Baillieston after the council agreed to use over £15 million on the scheme.

Money for the hub in James Lindsay Park, which will be managed by Glasgow Life, has been secured from developers building homes in the area.

Local councillors have welcomed the funding after a long wait for the project to progress — with the proposal first raised more than a decade ago.

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Financial contributions were provided as part of the Baillieston Broomhouse Carmyle Community Growth Area as housebuilders signed up to legal agreements linked to planning applications within the area boundary.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, SNP, the council’s convener for neighbourhood assets and services, said: “This is a momentous day in the work towards delivering a much-needed community hub for Baillieston.

“The creation of this facility will serve the people of the area, who have shown great interest in the proposals for the hub and a huge amount of credit needs to be given to ex-councillor, Bailie [Elaine] Ballantyne, for her dogged determination to get us to this point.”

A planning application for the hub, which will feature arts, community and sports activities, will now be developed by council officials. More community consultation will be held to influence the final design.

Baillieston representative Councillor Kevin Lalley, Labour, said the funding agreement was “great news for families across Baillieston and Broomhouse” but added they “have had to wait far too long while the SNP council dragged its heels.”

Councillor Lalley said the hub would be “an incredible community asset for everyone in the East End.”

“Labour has led the fight to finally get this delivered for the people of Baillieston and Broomhouse,” he claimed.

“This is a great example of what we can achieve for people when we stand up and fight for them. There has been a fantastic contribution from many residents throughout this journey and I’m delighted that we are now a step closer to the hub.”

Councillor Alex Kerr, SNP, who also represents Baillieston, said: “This is a very exciting and long overdue moment for the residents of Baillieston and the result of many years of hard work and campaigning.

“Since becoming the city administration in 2017, the SNP has been committed to delivering what the people have Baillieston had long cried out for – a new Community Hub. Bringing it to fruition has been at the core of my campaign and my time as councillor.

“Residents were sick of being let down by the previous Labour administrations for more than a decade. I hope they share my joy at reaching this momentous milestone.”

Councillor John Daly, Conservative, for Baillieston, said the funding had been “a long time coming, as my constituents in the ward have been telling me.”

“Finally, as of today, we can start to make the project shovel-ready,” he added.

He said other community councils in the ward were “quite wary of the fact that a lot of the monies came from building in Broomhouse and they won’t see, perhaps, the fruits of that monies in their actual micro-community.”

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Councillor Kelly said costs had “spiralled” due to a combination of reasons, including the pandemic and Brexit, but the hub would be “an asset for that community for generations to come.”

He said: “If we were to try and spread our jam too thinly, you could potentially end up with a number of projects that don’t deliver anything of what people want.”

He added the council was “always looking for more funding” from a variety of sources. If the whole £15.7 million isn’t required for the hub, council officials will present a paper on how money can be reallocated.