CAMPAIGNERS in Glasgow's west end are celebrating victory after their local green space narrowly avoided being destroyed by developers.

Friends of Broomhill Avenue Greenspace launched a campaign to save the land after it was declared as surplus by Glasgow City Council and passed on to City Property to dispose of in 2014.

After further investigation by Councillor Kenny McLean, it was found that the council had not followed procedure in carrying out the deal.

Officials failed to consult with elected members in the decision to pass the land on, which is not in compliance with the Scheme of Delegated Functions.

Plans to develop the land have now been ‘kicked to the very long grass’ with the land not being disposed of until the new process has been applied in full.

Councillor McLean, who has supported the campaign from the beginning, said: “Audit and Inspection at the council have agreed with me that delegated powers have not been used correctly as they didn’t consult with elected members before going ahead with it.

“The process of declaring the land surplus will have to start again from scratch.

“It doesn’t explicitly categorically state that the land won’t be sold in the future, but it kicks it into the very long grass.

“I would hope for the foreseeable future this is the end of the matter.”

It is the second time that the green space has been saved by a public campaign after initial success in 2008 which saw the council guarantee that the space would be excluded from any future development.

The campaign gained even more momentum second time around with over 800 people signing a petition demanding that the council stick to their original promise to protect the land.

Chris Osborne, who launched the petition, said the public wanted the space to develop on for families.

Speaking on the victory he said: “We are over the moon. This is the second time that the community have had to fight to save the Greenspace from being built over with flats, and we hope it's the last.

“This area is highly valued by the residents of Broomhill Avenue, and the response to the news that the immediate threat has gone has been universally positive.

“A lot of work has gone into the site over a number of years, and this recent decision means that work will not go to waste.

“There is still work to do to secure the long term future of the Greenspace, and we're looking forward to continuing to work with our councillors and the wider community in order to achieve this goal.

“We had concerns about the process which led the the space being put 'up for sale' by the council when we were made aware of what was happening.

“We're very grateful to Cllr McLean for his support and for helping us save the greenspace for the 2nd time."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “After taking on board comments around this issue, the process has been restarted to comply with the Scheme of Delegated Functions (SoDF).”