Demolition application rejected due to lack of interest from housebuilders.
A bid to flatten a group of listed buildings in north Glasgow was thrown out amid claims of “inaction, indecision and incompetence”.
Scottish Enterprise had wanted to demolish 11 of the listed buildings which made up part of the former Ruchill Hospital. All it wanted to keep was the A Listed water tower, which is a landmark for a large part of the north of the city.
But councillors rejected the application – on the casting vote of planning committee chairman John Flanagan.
Publicly funded Scottish Enterprise bought the old hospital site in 1999, intending to sell it on for housing.
One developer pulled out because of the downturn in the housing market and since then there has no other interest.
A number of years ago, the development quango was given permission to bulldoze other listed buildings on the site provided the remainder were maintained. But little was done and the remaining buildings have deteriorated badly.
Derek McCrindle, Scottish Enterprise’s director of partnerships, told the meeting: “We thought as long as security was maintained the buildings would not deteriorate. This was naive. We continued to undertake basic maintenance but security was a huge problem and we were unable to keep up with the vandalism. The most basic elements of maintenance is extremely difficult because it is dangerous.”
Two years ago, experts estimated it would cost £16.5 million to restore the buildings.
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