Council accused of failing to support community during hospital site plan
GLASGOW City Council has been accused of failing a local community during a major planning development.
The Victoria Forum, made up of Langside, Battlefield and Camphill; Mount Florida; and Shawlands and Strathbungo community councils, have produced a nine-page document following the development on the former Victoria Infirmary site being given the go-ahead.
Sanctuary Homes were granted permission to build 413 flats, offices and retail units earlier this year, while calls from the community for houses and children’s play area to be included, were ignored.
The report created in light of work on the development beginning, recommends that the local authority engage meaningfully with the community from the outset of an application being submitted.
It reads: “Meaningful here means that the community’s views are not only sought but included in proposals or as options to committees when decisions are made – we do not expect them all to be accepted but they should be heard.
“No public discussion session was held (by Sanctuary Homes).
“The forum members were of the view that facilitated public discussion sessions are a more effective method of generating ideas, as well as increasing community involvement, rather than the traditional ‘comments’ by individuals on concepts already presented by developers or architects.
“We organised such an open session early in the process attended by 120 local people. Sanctuary was invited to take part but did not attend.”
Ideas collected from the session, numbered at 1700, were published in writing and sent to Sanctuary and GCC.
The housing developer, however, did not publish the findings in full, which the forum believes allowed them to act as both “judge and jury”.
The forum has highlighted what it believes to be a power imbalance between the community and the developer due to the public being unable to appeal rejected objections, and slammed the developers failure to prepare a master plan ahead of the planning application being submitted.
It adds: “With no guidance by the council, the developer was able to limit community engagement to that which is required before a planning application.”
A working group, which brought together several council departments and the community, has been hailed as a success.
In response to the report, a spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “We do not agree with some of these claims, as the council engaged with local residents to a much greater extent than has been the case for any planning proposal of a similar scale in recent years.
“With regard to the other points, these are matters that relate to national planning policy and therefore cannot be changed or dealt with at a local level.
“Officers at the council will soon meet with representatives from the forum to explain these issues as part of a wider discussion.”
Peter Martin, Sanctuary’s Group director – development, said: “Most of the Victoria Forum’s recommendations are for Glasgow City Council to consider. Our wide-ranging consultation process saw more than 600 people attend a series of open sessions to express their views on the design and redevelopment of the site. The vast majority of local residents are happy with the outcome and cannot wait to see our plans come to life.
“Our application and consultation process has been commended by Glasgow City Council’s planning department and is being used by other local authorities as an example of good practice. When you consult with so many people and try to take into account all of their opinions, there will inevitably be some who feel their views are not reflected in the design.”
‘‘ The developer was able to limit community engagement