Plans for 20-storey student flats approved beside Forth and Clyde canal
Scottish Opera has also been given permission to build new headquarters on the Edington Street site
Controversial plans for student housing beside the Forth and Clyde canal have been rubber stamped by planning bosses at Glasgow City Council.
Two 20 storey blocks with 705 bedrooms were approved for 40 Edington Street - despite almost 100 objections from the public.
Scottish Opera has also been allowed to build a new headquarters on the site - offering a rooftop garden and cafe.
Councillor Paul Leinster, SNP, said: “This is a good use of what is not a very attractive site right now. I think it’s important that Scottish Opera have looked at an innovative approach to funding sustainability.”
Welcoming Scottish Opera’s investment in the neighbourhood, committee chair Ken Andrew described the area as “bleak” and “ignored” and said the move was “very good.”
He also called for a condition to improve disability access.
Objectors had voiced concerns about overshadowing, the impact on local services and property values and views from Spiers Wharf among other worries.
They also pointed out the new canal path plans are not wheelchair accessible.
Supporters of the bid pointed out the plan would regenerate a brownfield site and provide performance spaces and boost the cultural sector among other benefits.
A statement from Scottish Opera said: “The design, which has been developed by Page\Park Architects, is for a thriving, mixed-use development on a site adjacent to the Glasgow branch of the Forth & Clyde Canal, which has laid derelict since the 1980s.
"Known locally as New Rotterdam Wharf, Scottish Opera’s new headquarters will sit at the heart of the new proposal."
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