Flats plan sparks outrage
EDEL KENEALY
Plans to build a three-storey block of flats on the last parcel of land within the old Hoover factory site have been met with outrage.
Dawn Homes, which has already started construction on 91 houses at the Cambuslang site, has submitted a planning application to build nine flats as part of a 70-unit development on the land between Somvervell Park and the railway line.
But people who have already moved into the development are outraged that a block of flats has been added to the proposals at the eleventh hour.
In letters submitted to South Lanarkshire Council, protestors say the block of flats was never included in the master plans for the overall site.
One woman told the planning department: “I have just moved into Dale Avenue, which is directly across from the proposed block of flats.
“I am extremely angry that this application has been submitted a few days after the houses which are directly affected by this amendment moved in.
“I was told, after continually asking the site manager, that it would be a row of houses.”
The woman added: “This block of flats is going to seriously impact on the privacy of my home, with each storey being able to look directly into all of my windows.
“If I had known that it would be a block of flats so close to my home, I would not have purchased this house, that is the same for all of my neighbours.”
The block of flats, together with eight terraced houses, are being built to meet a planning requirement that Dawn Homes provide 17 units - 25 per cent of the total number of units proposed - for social rent.
The remaining development consists of 25 detached homes and 28 semi-detached homes. These will have between three and four bedrooms.
If approved, the planning application will bring the total number of homes permitted at the Hoover site to 263.
The proposed 70-unit development can only be built once the land is decontaminated.
Dawn Homes confirmed in 2016 that pockets of land at the site were contaminated with heavy metals and hydrocarbon.
It has submitted a proposal for remediating the land as part of the planning application.
John Bachtler, chairman of Cambuslang Community Council, said: “We have important questions about this development proposal, particularly the lack of detail on issues such as the specification of type of housing, road access, flood risk, potential land contamination and other issues.
“We have been contacted by local residents who are seriously concerned about the proposal, and we will be discussing the application at our next community council meeting.”
A spokesman for Dawn Homes said: “The application has been submitted on land which is zoned for a residential use and not for a specific use of housing only.
“At no point were any members of Dawn staff informed of anything other than the next phase would be for a residential use.
“I appreciate that some clients may not wish for particular types of development to occur adjacent to their new home, however the residential zoning of this land was known to all prospective purchasers.”