Flats can be built on mediaeval site

Councillors have granted permission to Stephen Sked of 4 Delves Road for the development which is in the town’s Conservation Area as well as in the buffer zone for New Lanark.

The planning committee was told last Wednesday that the site consisted of a two-storey building, which was once four flats, but which had been vacant for years. The site also included ground used for communal washing greens and a wash-house.

Part of the area, which was on the margins of the mediaeval burgh, is owned by the council.

The plans are for 13 flats in two connected blocks, with stair towers and a curved facade to fit into the Conservation Area, and with 10 parking spaces and the stone wall realigned to form a new access.

Two neighbours, in Wellgatehead, raised concerns.

“The narrowness of Delves Road already causes problems for traffic, and the addition of 13 flats will mean considerably more traffic with associated implications for road safety,” councillors were told.

And there was a suggestion that double yellow lines should be painted from the Wellgatehead junction down to the Glenmuir factory.

However, the council’s roads services had no objections, and felt the “small increase” in traffic would not cause road safety issues.

And there was concern about the number of parking spaces. But the planners report said that being within walking distance of the town centre, health and education facilities was in line with Climate Change requirements.

“The proposal will enhance the amenity of the area by bringing back into full use a site which has been derelict for several years,” they said.

Planning permission was granted — but with the warning that did not imply the council would sell the part of the site it owned.