By Eddie Harbinson

A housing developer has won the right to convert former Glasgow University student halls into flats.

London and Scottish Belhaven Ltd was given permission yesterday to turn three B listed townhouse buildings on Belhaven Terrace West, in Hyndland, into 15 flats.

As part of the plans, two detached and two semi-detached mews houses will be created across the privately-owned Belhaven Terrace West Lane, with the road also being re-paved.

And a standalone flat, complete with its own garages and cycle storage area, is also being constructed.

Friends of Glasgow West objected to the plans, claiming the work would be detrimental to the character of the area.

But Planning Committee member Martin Bartos, despite eventually voting to refuse the application, said: “Overall I’m very pleased to see the works that are being done to restore this property into residential use.

“I’m not sure that there are any planning grounds on which this application can be refused.”

The six-storey former student halls buildings will be used to form six, three-bedroom and nine, two-bedroom flats. Three garages will be created for the flatted properties.

In the new build mews homes, there will be a mix of three and four-bedroom units. Each will come with its own garage.

As part of the plans, a B Listed former student dining hall will be demolished, making way for the standalone garage and communal gardens.

A car park will be built for seven vehicles on vacant land across the lane, with a car turning point also being created.

It came in the face of an objection from Friends of Glasgow West, who said: “The West End is full of quirky corners of green space which give it much of its character; some of these are formally designed and maintained as communal gardens while others, such as this space or the Partickhill Oval, now have a wilder, more natural appearance.

“They are necessary green ‘lungs’ between the high density of terraces and tenements.”

The group claimed that the work would have a detrimental impact on the area.

But Richard Brown, the council’s Executive Director of Environment shrugged off those comments.

He said: “The conversion of the six-storey former townhouses to 15 residential units is considered appropriate to the character of the listed building.

“The demolition of the dining hall will create a more sympathetic relationship of back elevation to garden space and reveal lower ground stonework.”

He added that the mews houses and the standalone flat would “not have a significant adverse impact on the historic character of the conservation area”.

Planning bosses voted 11-4 in favour of granting the application.