Proposed superstore at Larkfield Bus Depot

[Anorak]

Stumbled upon proposals to create a giant superstore on the site of Larkfield Bus Depot.
It’s still at the consultation stage, prior to a formal application.
Larkfield consultation

The bus depot would be relocated on the other side of the new M74 extension and the West Coast Main Line.
The new First Bus HQ complex would be built on the site of the old Southside Railway Station , latterly Gushetfaulds Freight Terminal.

If it was all to go ahead, Alexander Thomson’s Caledonia Road Church would remain as isolated as it is now!

[Anorak]

Looks like the current pre-application consultation is for the superstore only.

According to their website, plans for the relocated First Glasgow HQ and depot have already been submitted.

The development will cover both sides of the new stretch of motorway, connected by an underpass.

[owlnation]

This strikes me as an incredibly short-sighted thing to do -- but not an unexpected one.

The area around the Caledonia Road Church is desolate and forbidding. Moving the Bus Depot there would only continue that atmosphere. The church itself, which should be something Glasgow is proud of, will continue to be nothing more than a traffic island -- until it eventually has a mysterious fire, a bus drives through it, or it simply falls down from neglect.

The sensible thing to do would be to keep the Bus Depot where it is -- by all means redevelop it, the area around it is pretty bad too.

Then have the shopping complex where Southside station is. Part of the condition of redevelopment should be that the church is renovated. That way the surrounding land may be more attractive to housing development. Especially, since on a good day you can actually walk to the city centre from there -- rather than commute from some lego-built suburb for 45 mins per day. It never ceases to amaze me that there's a mile-wide ring around the city centre that's pretty much derelict or dangerous, while external greenbelt is eaten up for commuters. I know that the inner city was once slum and had to be cleared -- but that's no reason why now, especially with traffic congestion, that this area cannot be full of housing again. By that I don't mean "luxury" flats, I mean good tenement-style buildings that ordinary, decent people who work in the city centre can afford.

Our beloved city fathers could also consider re-opening the railway line there -- or at least as much of it as possible. Light rail is fine. The remaining arches behind where St Enoch Station was could, perhaps, be developed into a small station again, or just use the car park adjacent, for something larger. Many stations in Germany are built into shopping centres, there's no reason why that won't work here too. I realize that that's not a small project, but it is the sort of thing that Glasgow absolutely has to do eventually. Why not sooner rather than later? Those lines should never have been closed in the first place.

It'll only help the Citizens Theatre too -- must be one of the hardest theatres in the country to get to -- navigate the complicated, badly-signed one-way system, or risk your life on the short walk from the Underground or bus.

However, I suspect that First Bus has many brown envelopes, and that they could be large -- so I guess the continued desolation and isolation of the Greek Thompson Church is absolutely inevitable.

[Mori]

Could be a joint venture between First & Park Lane... aye sounds like Tescos.

Reference: 10/00187/DC Community Cnl: Crosshill/Govanhill
Address: Site At Victoria Road/ Butterbiggins Road Glasgow
Proposal: Erection of superstore, retail units, restaurant unit, petrol filling station, car wash and related
access, parking and servicing (in principle).
Additional
Consultations
Required
Date Received: 29.01.2010 Earliest Date for Planning Application: 23.04.2010
Prospective
Applicant:
Park Lane Land And First Glasgow (No 1) Ltd
Agent Details
0141 221 0316
Muir Smith Evans
203 Bath Street GLASGOW G2 4HZ
Contact details
for prospective
applicant:
Muir Smith Evans, 203 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HZ
Fax: 0141 221 8298, bmuir@muirsmithevans.co.uk
Ward: Southside Central
Type: Proposal of Application Notice
Case Officer: Mr K Clark, 0141 287 6091
Listing: Cons Area:
Map Reference: (E) 258547 (N) 663271

GM+AD did a proposal on this site a few years ago.

[southsidehappenings]

Does anyone have more info on this or on the architects carrying out the scheme? We heard it was ADF who do a lot of work with Sainsburys but not sure if thats true.

Quite a hot topic in the Govanhill area at the moment. Generated a lot of debate on our blog and interesting to see what other people think about it. http://bit.ly/avoNUc

Would be terrible if these proposals banish the Greek Thomson church to a life of ruins.

[munroman]

I would say from the overhead view it is a Tesco, they have a generic design which they claim to 'customise' to suit 'local conditions'.

This is usually to put the town name on the signage!

Oh, and to save costs, Tesco are now using Architects and Quantity Surveyors based in India, nothing like designing a building having knowledge of the context in which it will sit!

[southsidehappenings]

The Planning application for the Superstore at Larkfield Bus Depot was submitted today. Here's a link to the overview statement submitted alongside the application.

http://ow.ly/2c7OK

[Bee]

Sad news if the superstore gets go ahead and I'm pretty sure it will. This whole area of the south side seems to be a place where developers have carte blanche to push through anything they want irrespective of demand. (or any other considerations...)

I live in Govanhill and eventhough walking down Victoria Road can sometimes be a bleak experience I really don't think that Tesco, Lidl and Sainsbury's should be seen as saviours of the area. I just realised yesterday that Sainsbury's are opening up in old Hoeys! My cornershop will struggle but I shall remain loyal

[8cats]

I live really near Hoey's and I hadn't realised that either. I suppose it will save queueing for 20 mins in Farmfoods just to get some milk, but I'm sad that Hoey's isn't there any more. Do you know what happened with that shop in the end? I remember they had the big closing down thing and then it re-opened. I went in and asked the staff about it and they said one of the employees had managed to take it over just as it was about to close down. Then one day it had 'closed due to electrical fault' signs up, and it never seemed to be open again after that, until someone opened it up as a kind of pound shop, which duly closed as well. Seems such a shame after the long history of Hoey's......

[Bee]

Do you know what happened with that shop in the end?

I've no idea. I moved to the area when the pound shop was in full swing. I heard somebody had some whacky plan to turn it in to some sort of music venue..? Would have been nicer than Sainsbury's. Since they have sealed the shop front off it's impossible to tell how far they've come with the refurbishment, seems to have been pretty dead recently tho..

Get your milk at Shop n Save instead! No queue, same price. Govanhill Milk Wars hehe.

[Rucola]

When I moved to the area in about 2004 there was still an intact 1950s cafeteria operating in Hoey's basement. I do hope someone took photographs at some point.

[8cats]

I remember it had a cafe too, although I was only ever in the actual shop. A music venue would've been great, I'm going to have to pretend I don't know about that once it opens as an overpriced Sainsburys local instead.......