PLANNING APPLICATIONS COMMITTEE

Report by Director of Development and Regeneration Services

Contact: Ms L Scully Phone: 0141 287 6053

APPLICATION TYPE Listed Building Consent incl Demolition

RECOMMENDATION Grant Subject to Condition(s)

APPLICATION 06/03255/DC DATE VALID 05.10.2006

SITE ADDRESS Hospital 520 Bilsland Drive G20 9JL

PROPOSAL Demolition of Building 4

APPLICANT Scottish Enterprise Glasgow AGENT Colliers Cre Atrium Court John MacArthur 50 Waterloo Street 9 George Square Glasgow G2 6HQ Glasgow G2 1DY

WARD NO(S) 16, Canal COMMUNITY 02_024, Ruchill COUNCIL

CONSERVATION LISTED A AREA

ADVERT TYPE Affecting a Conservation PUBLISHED 27 October 2006

Area/Listed Building

CITY PLAN Residential

REPRESENTATIONS/ CONSULTATIONS

One letter of representation from Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland.

One letter of representation from local Councillor.

SITE AND DESCRIPTION

This application is for demolition of Listed Building 4, within the former Ruchill Hospital site (which closed in 1999).

It is bounded on the western boundary by , on the southern boundary by Panmure Street and across Panmure Street by new-build housing, on the eastern boundary by a nursing home and vacant land (recently demolished post-war Council housing) and on the northern boundary by Bilsland Drive.

The application has been submitted by Colliers on behalf of Scottish Enterprise. PAGE 2 06/03255/DC

A previous application last year (05/03608/DC) involved, amongst other works, partial demolition of two decorative gables to the west elevation of Building 4. This was for health and safety reasons as this part of the building was unsafe and was a public safety issue.

A condition of this previous application was that to ensure the security of the remainder of the building, the open gable was to be fixed with a framed plywood lined partition. After demolition, the agents stated the remaining structure could be retained using a facade retention system. The timber elements and external walls have, however, deteriorated to such an extent as to make retention impracticable, and dangerous for contractor's operatives to work around, to make the property safe and secure from a health and safety point of view.

The agent has confirmed that the demolition works (for modern extension and buildings 4 and 13) for application 05/03608 were undertaken in line with what was shown in the approved drawings. Plastic sheeting was installed to buildings 1, 2, 3, 6 and 3. However, due to the extensively dilapidated condition of the building, there are little adequate fixings for the down straps and as such over the winter months the heavy grade plastic sheeting has come off building number 6. As such, this was not commenced on the remainder of the buildings.

The vegetation growth within gutters and on elevations and rocks has been removed and a weed killer applied and these areas were re-appointed where possible.

Existing gutters and downpipes were cleared out and where possible repaired. UPVC guttering and downpipes were provided where originals were missing or extensively damaged.

A survey of the condition of the building was submitted and budget costs prepared. A reasoned cost analysis suggests that the total development costs to repair the building are £1.8 million. The end value of the remaining structure of eight apartments at £110,000 each would be £0.95 million.

Therefore, taking account of the issues: condition of the building, costs of repair and potential re-use, the case has been substantially made for demolition. Building 4 was the reception building for the original hospital. Building 4 is an integral central part of the grouping of listed buildings and brickwork shall be salvaged for a new building to keep the continuity of the grouping.

POLICIES

Policy DEV 2 Residential Development Policy Principle - Glasgow City Plan Policy HER 2 Listed Buildings - Glasgow City Plan

Memorandum of Guidance on Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas.

ASSESSMENT AND CONCLUSIONS

Section 25 of the Town and Country Planning Act requires that planning decisions be made in accordance with the Development Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Section 59 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act requires the Planning Authority to have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural of historic interest which it possesses.

The site is situated within DEV 2 - Residential development Policy Principle of Glasgow City Plan.

The principal planning issue to be addressed within this application is considered to be whether the demolition of a listed building should be granted. In this regard, the proposal requires to take cognisance of Policy HER 2 Listed Buildings of Glasgow City Plan and the Memorandum of Guidance on Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas. PAGE 3 06/03255/DC

The proposal complies with Policy HER 2 and the Memorandum of Guidance with regard to proposals for demolition which have been subjected to rigorous scrutiny as to requirements for demolition.

With regard to consultations/representations, the following should be noted:-

Councillor MacKechnie objects to this application for demolition of this structure.

He advises Building 4 has one of a number of structures on that site that were to be retained when demolition consent was given in 2000 for removal of a number of the associated listed ward blocks. The preservation of this building was correctly considered to be an integral part of a comprehensive arrangement to ensure the historical character of the site was respected. This will, to protect the City's heritage, would now appear to be imperilled as contrary to the City Plan. The owners of the building have failed to maintain it in a good state of repair. It is not an acceptable solution for the owners to seek to break the original construction agreement on account of failing to fulfil their duty to safeguard the property. If, however, there is an absolute need, on safety grounds alone, to demolish part of the building, this should only be permitted on a partial basis with facade retention being a condition of consent for the demolition of other parts of the building.

(Initially, it was proposed to retain the front facade, however, this service has been accepted that the facade is in very poor condition and could not be saved).

Architectural Heritage Society advises that they object to partial demolition. There is no assessment on file that gives details of the extent of the problems that caused the building to be dangerous. There are no details of possible reinstatement and why the listed building was allowed to fall into its present state. (The applicant has since submitted a report justifying demolition).

To summarise, this application has resulted from proposals to undertake health and safety related works to Building 4 which was found to be unsafe and a public safety issue. It had initially been hoped that at least the remaining part of the front facade could be retained to allow full reinstatement of facade at a later date. However, the façade itself is in very poor condition and it has been accepted that it cannot be retained.

It is regrettably considered that the demolition proposals are acceptable and it is recommended that Listed Building Consent (Demolition) be granted subject to the following conditions.

CONDITIONS AND REASONS

01. The development shall be implemented in accordance with drawing number(s):

Building Survey Report dated 27 February 2007 Report JM/DW/F9231/F0060595.doc

received 4 October 2006, as qualified by the undernoted condition(s), or as otherwise agreed in writing with the Planning Authority.

Reason: As these drawings constitute the approved development. PAGE 4 06/03255/DC

02. The applicant shall take all possible steps to salvage recoverable items during the demolition process, and shall (within 2 months) provide a written report of items retained from that process.

Reason: To use for future reinstatement of buildings.

for Director of Development and Regeneration Services DC/ LAS/MSTE/5 23/05/2007

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