Park and ride at Newton gets go ahead

Planning permission has been granted for the £1.4 million extension to the park and ride facility at Newton Train Station.

The lack of parking spaces at the station has been heavily criticised in recent years, with commuters stating the car park was full by 9am most mornings.

They said the increase in new build homes was putting the park and ride service under unprecedented strain.

But the new plan will see 155 new parking bays created to the south of the current park and ride.

Funding for the project is coming from the Glasgow Region City Deal, which also helped fund the Cathkin Relief Road. With the council in purdah, officers acting under delegated powers gave the project conditional permission last week.

According to council papers, the project will involve the “extension to existing park-andride facility to supplement the existing parking provision with associated accesses (vehicular and pedestrian), improvement to the existing junction and installation of additional lighting, CCTV and fencing.”

One letter of representation was submitted about the plan, detailing concerns about proximity to houses.

However, a planning report concluded: “The additional car park will provide a valuable resource for the locality and satisfy demand which in recent years has resulted in on street parking in the vicinity of the station.

“The new car park will compliment the layout of the two existing car parks and will tie in with the current drainage arrangements.”