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£10,000 war chest targeted by Jordanhill residents in battle over Cala Homes plans

Residents in Jordanhill are to raise £10,000 in their fight to scale back a major homes development.

A public meeting at the weekend was told the money was needed to fund an independent traffic assessment.

Already, around £1,000 of the total has been pledged by the community.

The rest will be targeted through fundraising and donations over the coming weeks.

The meeting on Sunday was attended by 250 people who came to hear updates on the campaign to fight plans for the former Jordanhill Campus.

Earlier this month Cala Homes submitted a detailed application for 412 homes on the former Strathclyde University site.

It was a major step forward for the development since proposals were first aired in 2011.

 Packed: 250 residents attended the Sunday afternoon public meeting.
Packed: 250 residents attended the Sunday afternoon public meeting.

Residents, however, have been angered by the scale of the detailed plans - arguing only 364 homes were agreed in principle in 2013.

The public meeting in Jordanhill Church gave its unanimous support for counter-proposals residents hope will see the development drastically reduced.

A community value proposition (CVP) has set out plans for existing community sports pitches to be used by Jordanhill School and local sports clubs as well as the construction of a multi-functional community building.

 Experience: Former city councillor Pat Chalmers was among those who addressed the public meeting.
Experience: Former city councillor Pat Chalmers was among those who addressed the public meeting.

On Sunday, community leaders “ruled out nothing” in their battle over the scheme.

The meeting was told that it was crucial residents object to the current plans by the deadline of April 21.

Leaders of the group raised grave concern about the scale of the development which has risen from a maximum of 364 new houses four years ago to current plans for 412.

Some locals believe the plans should be subject to external examination – a course of action which is thought to be under review.

Asked what options were being considered, working group member Euan Miller admitted: “We are looking into every option available to fight the proposals as they currently stand and have ruled out nothing.

“We are not against development on the site – in fact we acknowledge something has to happen.

“But it has to be right – and there has to be some value for the community.”

Euan said the community value proposition would guarantee the management of sports pitches for use by local schools and sports clubs as well as providing a multi-purpose Community Centre.

Jordanhill Community Council insist a transport impact assessment prepared for Cala is fundamentally flawed and have commissioned their own report.

And they are also outraged at plans to destroy 73 trees – 25 per cent of the total growing on the site which is designated of Special Landscape Importance by Glasgow City Council.

Euan Miller:

“We are not against development on the site – in fact we acknowledge something has to happen.

“But it has to be right – and there has to be some value for the community.”

Residents have been told that if enough of them object to the proposed development the City Council’s planning department will be obliged to call a Public Hearing.

Cala Homes says it has done nothing wrong by increasing the number of homes since the outline application in 2013.

An information booklet sent to local residents states: "The initial planning application in 2013 related solely to establishing the principle of use and no development numbers were approved.

"The number of units now proposed has increased slightly - by less than 15 per cent - in comparison with an indicative figure submitted with the initial planning application."

Cala says the campus is currently derelict and falling into disrepair.

The booklet says: "Cala's proposals include enhancing the landscape quality of the entire site and also opening up public access to new areas of parkland with more than 40 per cent of the development to be retained as greenspace."

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