Bid to turn Finnieston flats into holidays lets refused

An application to use the properties as short-stay serviced apartments at Minerva Way was described as “appalling” with councillors stating the proposal was not suitable for the area.

Around 100 letters of objection were submitted to the council from residents who were not informed prior to buying their property, a contract between the developer and Sondar had already been signed.

They said that despite there not being a legal requirement to disclose this information, many residents would not have completed their purchase had they been informed about the plans.

Concerns were also raised that the short term lets would turn into “party flats” for tourists and would not be appropriate for this residential area of Finnieston. The issue was discussed at this morning’s planning meeting.

SNP councillor Eva Bollandar said: “I am quite appalled to see the effort that the applicant has put into making this acceptable.

“There are a lot of very good reasons for it to be refused and I fully support that position.”

Baillie Josphine Docherty added: “Finnieston is different from its surrounding areas and I think it would be a pity to have far too many flats and houses to rent or let to passing people who really do not care or have any real identity of the area.

“I would like to see some slowing down of houses to rent or to lease and to keep the tradition of Finnieston separate from the surrounding area.”

Members unanimously agreed to reject the application on the advice and information submitted to them by council officers.

After the meeting, councillor Christy Mearns said: “We do not need precedent for this and I’m pleased that short-stay will not be supported here in favour of much-needed housing. A victory for the community who engaged in the planning process to have their voices heard.”

Councillor Angus Millar said following the meeting that the committee made the right decision and the news will come as a relief to residents who opposed the plans.

He said: “This development was always unsuited for short term lets, with an aparthotel style use clearly having an impact on neighbouring residents within the development.

“The short term lets would have relied on the permanent residents’ common areas (including bins, car parking and access pend) and while proposed on-site security until 1 am was seemingly an effort to reassure residents, this only underlined the extent to which these proposals would have fundamentally altered the character of this residential complex.

“Ultimately, this proposal should never have gotten this far – Sonder was told early on that their plans were unlikely to be compatible with city planning policy, and only council enforcement action made them accept the need to even engage with the planning process.

“And it is completely unacceptable that residents were informed of these poorly thought through plans only after they bought and moved into their new homes – despite evidence Sonder had been in talks about taking over the flats well before then.”

“We need homes to help build communities in areas like Finnieston, not party flats for tourists, and I’m pleased today’s decision upholds the importance of protecting our new-build housing supply for residential use.”