Leading experts on the art and architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh have today urged Glasgow's City Councillors to defer the decision on whether controversial student accommodation can be built close to Glasgow School of Art.
In a letter, the experts, including the director and the vice president of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, said that the potential construction of the student house, immediately to the south of what is considered to be Mackintosh's masterpiece is a "matter of great concern."
Council officers have already recommended the seven-storey development neighbouring the A-listed Art School be approved when the decision is made today, Tuesday, by councillors.
The council has received 46 letters of objection in relation to the application including impact on the character and setting of the Mackintosh Building and conservation area and views towards it from surrounding areas.
However the letter signed by Stuart Robertson, director of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, and others including Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, said: "The proposal to grant planning permission for the erection of student housing immediately to the south of Mackintosh’s masterpiece, The Glasgow School of Art, is a matter of great concern.
"It is to be hoped that the Planning Applications Committee at its meeting today, Tuesday 7 March, will agree to defer a decision until appropriate consensus can be reached on the way forward.
"Mackintosh’s masterwork deserves no less."
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