ONE of the biggest education developments in Scotland has received the support of planning officers despite more than 340 objections.
The billion pound University of Glasgow project aims to demolish almost all of the existing former Western Infirmary hospital buildings to make way for a world class teaching and learning hub that is expected to create 2,500 jobs and provide a £130 million boost to the local economy.
Parts of the old hospital will survive including six listed buildings - the Elder Memorial Chapel, the outpatients and dispensary building, the Western Infirmary Gate Lodge, the Tennent Institute, the pathology and bacteriology building and Anderson College - which are due to be refurbished as part of the development.
New buildings for research and development offices and offices for financial, professional and other services will be constructed along with shops, bars, a hotel and residential blocks.
Work on the campus project which will see an estimated investment of £1 billion over 10 years – higher than the public funding of the 2014 Commonwealth Games - would begin this year with the entire project finished by 2035.
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Planning officers have are recommending the plans are approved even thought they accept that its scale and edge-of-centre location together with the level of shops planned contrary to the city Development Plan.
They said that it will make a "positive contribution to the character and appearance of this part of the West End and will deliver a high quality environment with good urban design".
Hillhead and Woodlands and Park community councils and the Friends of Kelvingrove Park are among those who have protested over the plans.
One of the main objections is the removal of five trees in Kelvingrove Park and the removal of a further 50 trees which, it was felt, "will not enhance the area of wildlife corridor and its use as a wildlife habitat".
But a planning officers' report to councillors who will decide on the proposals on Tuesday says the removal of 58 trees was a "worst-case scenario" and is "considered acceptable" as it will be mitigated through detailed landscaping proposals.
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There was concern that plans for a supermarket did not take into account the impact on existing businesses and it was pointed out that there had been since 2016 a sharp increase in the number of vacant shops on Byres Road, south of University Avenue.
But the planning officers' report said: "Economic considerations of existing businesses and commercial competition between businesses are not material planning considerations.
"On balance, the overall benefits of the proposed mixed use campus development, are considered to outweigh the potential negative impact on the town centre and departure from the Development Plan."
Objectors were also concerned about the impact on parking, traffic and air quality.
In supporting the plans, planning officers said the objections "do not outweigh the broad acceptability of the proposal".
They said: "The proposal is design-led and will result in the redevelopment of a large brownfield site and secure the future of the listed buildings.
"It is considered that the supporting commercial uses will enhance the vitality of the proposed campus and help integrate it with its surrounds in accordance good place making."
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The report points out the campus expansion is of city-wide and regional importance and added: "It is considered that the economic, employment and regeneration benefits associated with the mixed use campus development outweigh the potential negative impact on the town centre...and that the development has the potential to generate significant footfall, which will help mitigate the impact on Partick/Byres Road [and the] town centre of the closure of the Western Infirmary and loss of the BBC from the area."
The Western Infirmary closed to patients in 2015 following the completion of the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Govan.
A pre-emption clause signed in 1878 ensured the university would have first refusal to buy the site if the hospital ever relocated.
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