THE Culture Secretary has been asked to give her support to residents fighting the development of the city's most prestigious address.

A-listed Park Quadrant, in the city's West End, is considered to be one of the finest examples of town planning in Europe.

But the Victorian development within Park Circus - which overlooks Kelvingrove park - was never finished.

There are now plans to complete the row of houses after the Glasgow City Council agreed to sell the sought-after land for £6.3million to a developer who wants to build 111 homes.

But an action group, who say they are fighting to protect the heritage of the Quadrant, have raised concerns.

They say that Leeds-based Expresso property was selected as the preferred company to transform the site out of 11 bidders without input from councillors or local people.

Now Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, has written to Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop as well as the chief executive of Historic Scotland, Ian Watford, asking them to meet with campaigners.

Her letter to Ms Hyslop reads: "I am writing to you with regards the proposed development of Park Quadrant in Glasgow, part of the Park Circus area in Glasgow's West End which is widely regarded as a great architectural achievement alongside being of great building and cultural heritage to Glasgow and Scotland as a whole.

"A number of my constituents have expressed serious concern over development proposals which they believe will have a huge negative impact on the area."

The letter to Mr Watford says: "As you may be aware Park Quadrant in Glasgow's West End is considered to be one of the greatest examples of Victorian Urban Planning anywhere in the UK and my constituents are extremely concerned that the current proposals being considered will be detrimental to the overall area."

Ms White asked Ms Hyslop and Mr Watford to meet with the concerned residents.

She said she is yet to receive a reply to the letters, which were sent out recently.

The MSP said: "This is our heritage and our money - we must do everything that we can to protect it.

"The process of selecting the preferred bidder should be open and transparent."

Expresso Property's proposal was favoured by planning officials and the Glasgow Urban Design Panel.

In their bid to restore it's "missing piece", the company have pledged to strike a "sensitive balance between old and new".

An artists impression of the plans, developed with Glasgow architects Holmes Miller and Savills Scotland, shows flats with similar appearance to the existing homes.

Their proposal was presented to the Glasgow City Council's executive committee who agreed the sale of the land in May with cross-party support.

But the plans are still subject to planning permission.

The Park and Woodlands Heritage Group has expressed "deep concerns" about the planning process which they say appears to have "fundamental flaws" which resulted in just one proposal going before councillors.

Tom Johnstone from the group said: "We urge Glasgow City Council to go back to the drawing board and have a full and frank public debate about how the land should be used."

Park Quadrant was acquired by Glasgow City Council through a compulsory purchase order in 1981.

Plans to build 107 flats at the site collapsed in 2006 amid the worldwide financial crisis and a 2002 proposal was rejected following a public inquiry.

City Property, the council’s arms-length property organisation, put Park Quadrant up for sale in October 2014.

Their marketing brochure describes the Park Circus as “probably the most iconic of Glasgow’s Victorian Cityscapes”.

Park Circus, which has a lay out similar to the New Town in Edinburgh, is part of a planned development created by distinguished architect Charles Wilson in the 1850s.

The homes - some of the most expensive in the city - were mostly sold to rich merchants.

It is understood that the money from the sale of the homes, which are now some of the most expensive in the city, was used to purchase two country estates. And these were combined to create Kelvingrove Park.

The development of Park Quadrant was halted, however, after the City of Glasgow Bank collapsed.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said that the process of narrowing down the 11 bids followed a "standard model".

He added: "In this case, there was a clear recommendation for the (Expresso) proposal – after consideration of design, financial and planning issues – before it was presented for consideration by the Executive Committee, which approved the sale of the land."