28/03/2022
MOUNT FLORIDA COMMUNITY COUNCIL - MEETING 22 MARCH 2022
Paul Winocour, NOAH Developments said:
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity, on behalf of NOAH, to address the Community Council meeting this evening.
We are conscious that not everybody attending tonight is aware of the background regarding our previous proposals for the former Mount Florida Bowling Club site.
Despite being recommended for approval by Glasgow City Planning our planning application was turned down by Committee and subsequently refused under appeal.
It is now our intention to proceed with a new planning application and on that basis held a community consultation event on 24 February to present our emerging proposals.
For those of you who were unable to attend the community consultation event, copies of the proposals presented at that event have been provided this evening for your information.
These proposals include an early indication of the emerging architectural ideas for the residential component taking note of the previous planning application decision and appeal reporter’s comments.
We believe that the proposals aim to better reflect the surrounding architectural scale and context and we shall continue to develop them towards the submission of a new planning application.
One of the main purposes of the consultation event was to gauge interest and preferences for possible uses of the proposed community element of the site.
A summary of the various questions asked and answered at the event together with comments received during the feedback period will be published online in the near future.
In the meantime, we would like to specifically respond to comments received from some members of the community that ‘the entire site should be owned, managed and controlled by the Mount Florida Community Trust’.
We should state at the outset, that it is not our intention to denigrate the Trust, whom we met with this afternoon, but to give some relevant information so that the community can form their own opinion on the viability of its proposals.
Firstly, for complete clarity, Noah outrightly owns the entire site which it has purchased for redevelopment and does not intend to sell to the Trust or to any other party.
Secondly, we are aware that the Trust have suggested that they could exercise a Right to Buy under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act which for information is an extremely onerous and lengthy route to pursue with stringent requirements to be satisfied before approval may be granted.
We should also point out that since this option has been made available to community groups, in order to force a sale from a landowner, only three applications have been submitted, all of which were rejected or declined.
The Trust have previously made mention of possible grant funding support from the Scottish Land Fund of up to 95% of the value of the site.
However, any grant funding is unavailable for costs to cover development, restoration or refurbishment of the land or buildings which is a significant element of the capital costs required.
We would further add that since 2016, the Scottish Land Fund has made approximately 240 grant awards of which only 9 have been in Glasgow and all of those have been allocated to areas associated with social deprivation.
We understand that the Trust produced a three-year business plan with their planning application, back in 2019, however this information was not made public.
We would ask therefore to those in the community who are supporting the Trust’s proposals, have they had sight of an up to date published business plan?
If so, are they satisfied that the plan is based on financial reality with resources available to take the project forward especially in view of the substantial costs involved and the likely scenario of lack of adequate grant funding?
We ask these questions as we are not of the opinion that the Trust has a financially viable way forward in fulfilling their proposals to provide sustainable community facilities.
However, these are questions for the Trust to answer, not us.
Alternatively, we do believe that we have a bold and imaginative vision in how the overall site can be transformed into a bespoke and deliverable community space for all to use and enjoy combined with a limited development of high quality apartments.
This route has proven a successful formula with other community organisations, some of which we have been involved with, and is the most deliverable and sustainable option for the Mount Florida community.
We do wish to remain accessible to any groups, including the Community Council and the Community Trust, who wish to discuss their potential involvement in helping shape the direction and ultimate plans of the community component with the important security of a £250,000 funding package being offered for its successful implementation.
We shall also continue to engage with the community as proposals further develop towards the submission of a future planning application.
Happy to answer your questions.
Thank you.
