Planners have given the go-ahead to a controversial 114-bedroom block for Glasgow University,

The move to house so many students on the site of the Pewter Pot pub in North Woodside Road resulted in 345 objections from local people.

On the same day that block got planning permission, a student block with 405 bedrooms was officially opened in Thurso Street near Kelvingrove Art Gallery.

At the start of the new academic year, 600 new student flats went on the market at Collegelands on High Street

Three other developments, housing hundreds more students, are also on the cards for the West End.

A 477 bedroom block, which will be available from September, is being built on the site of the former Kelvin special school beside Yorkhill Hospital.

And there are plans to build 174 student flats at the former Comet store site on Dumbarton Road and to convert the former Scottish Ballet HQ on West Princes Street into 103 studio flats for students..

Glasgow's three universities, 11 further education colleges and a number of special education facilities such as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Piping Centre and Glasgow School of Art, boast a total of around 150,000 students, although not all of them live in student accommodation.

Jean Charsley, secretary of Hillhead Community Council, insists there are already too many students in the West End. She said: "A concentration of any kind of accommodation is not good for any area.

"We already have enough student accommodation.

"Councillors seem to think the new developments will put an end to the problem of houses in multiple occupation in the West End but they will not.

"Students are not required to live in them and they tend to live there for a year then move to their own place."

Ms Charsley insists the problem in the area is made worse as students from colleges and universities in other parts of the city are choosing to live in the West End.

She said: "The West End is overloaded with students. This attracts more late licences and carry-outs and we find that many shops cater less for the settled community than the transient community."

However Matte Andrews, student president at Caledonian University, said the new accommodation is popular with young people.

He added: "For students coming from overseas, from the rest of the UK or from outwith Glasgow they are vital places to stay.

"Some students will stay for their entire degree but generally students spend their first year in halls of residences and then move on to flats."

A spokesman for Glasgow University said: "We are committed to ensuring that suitable affordable and well supported accommodation is available to all students.

"Currently around 3800 students are accommodated within university owned or managed accommodation.

"Increasing demand and the need to revise existing stock means the university is actively seeking to add to the number of spaces available."

vivienne.nicoll@ eveningtimes.co.uk