Uddingston site given green light for houses

North Lanarkshire Council's planning sub-committee voted to ignore a recommendation to refuse planning permission for a major housing development in Uddingston.

The proposed site to the north of Bellshill Road, was considered contrary to local development plans and failed to meet criteria for approval as it is surrounded by industry, railways and busy roads and offers a low level of amenity for residents.

In addition noise at the site is well over recommended limits and it offers poor links to public transport.

All these issues were reported by senior planning officer Joanne Delaney to the committee last week.

Thorniewood councillor Steven Bonnar asked if the site was currently classed as brownfield, which is favoured for housing development, and this was confirmed by Ms Delaney.

The applicant WB Properties has submitted multiple potential layouts for the development, with options including 78 or 93 houses, 244 flats or a mixture of housing and flats.

It also intends to install acoustic barriers of up to 4.7m in height to combat background noise.

Airdrie North councillor Sophia Coyle called the report a ‘horror story’, but also conceded brownfield land was favoured for housing developments.

The application was approved nine votes to eight.