Planning Application
The Children’s Wood were granted full planning permission for a Community Park and Garden by Glasgow City Council in January 2016. We will be working with the Government and the Council to try to acquire the site so that the community will have a say over the land for years to come.
Previous information about our Planning application
As many of you will know, North Kelvin Meadow where we hold the majority of our activities both those for public and for schools, is under threat from council plans to sell the land for development following successful approval of a planning application from New City Vision for high end flats. As a positive step, The Children’s Wood have submitted its own planning application to retain the character and use of the land (more about this here). We were initially told that both the developer’s New City Vision and our own planning application would be considered at the end of July — and since then this continued to slip. Most recently we understood the applications would be considered on the 29th September. We have now learned the date will slip again into October, with no date yet fixed. Many thanks for all the words of encouragement and support in the face of this uncertainty; we will keep updated with dates, and any positive action we can and will take to ensure the value of the land to our local community is understood.
The Children’s Wood planning application
The Children’s Wood have asked Alex Macgregor, a local architect with previous experience as both a planner and in incorporating greenspace, to submit a concept plan for the land. In doing so we wish to show that there is an alternative to building houses, and preserving the wild space for future generations. We submitted our plan in response to the recent completion of New City Vision’s submission for building 90 flats on the land such that it will be considered simultaneously, based on overwhelming support by those voting at the AGM.
Our plan has currently been submitted to the council as a concept for planning permission in principle (15/01223/DC), to be considered at the same time as the NCV application. Further commentary on the process is provided here by Alex. At this first stage of the process, the council decide whether or not a full application would be acceptable in principle. In preparing the plan we have engaged with a broad cross-section of users of the land, appropriate to the application stage.
As we await the council’s response, we are discussing with the local community – both in day to day conversation and in more formal contexts such as the recent Market of Ideas event. Moving forward, in the event of the council indicating our proposal is appropriate (as we believe it should) we expect to open an even wider debate on what the community wishes for the land, in order to refine the application for the detailed planning application. Based on the largely positive feedback and support we have received to date, we believe the application, at a conceptual level, is broadly representative of the community wishes. We expect vigorous debate about this land which many hold dear, and are conscious that the Children’s Wood committee, whilst representing diverse interests, is not representative of the whole community. We would therefore propose, following the council’s affirmation in principle of our plan, to hold a series of consultations. We would instigate the formation a planning committee, consisting of members representative of all elements within our community, as a mandate for moving further forward. If you would like to be involved in this process, please do get in touch at childrenswood@hotmail.com, outlining your interests.
We have kept a record of all comments to date regarding the planning application to be incorporated into detailed development plans, and would seek further community input – see list below. Please do get in touch either by speaking to us or by email.
