Council to dispose of Drumchapel site to create daycare centre and lease Royston site to community group

Published: 11 April 2024

Approval to negotiate the disposal of the council-owned vacant land at Hecla Square in Drumchapel to allow the building of a new daycare centre there, and grant a 25-year lease to a long-established local community group to develop a site in Royston into a safe and attractive outdoor space, has been given by Glasgow City Council today (11 April).

The negotiations on the disposal of the land at Hecla Square - the former site of a now demolished public house (site pictured above) - with adjoining landowner Antonine Court Limited (ACL) to create a new day centre, will now continue. Antonine Court Day Centre is a dedicated facility situated in the heart of Drumchapel, specialising in providing tailored care and support services for adults with additional support needs, and youth services. The acquisition of the site would allow ACL to expand their current facilities and provide additional outdoor space, including a sensory garden. The lease of the 0.7 hectares site in Royston - at Provanhill Road - to Rosemount Development Trust will allow the community group to transform an open community space through the People Make Glasgow Communities programme.

This programme - through which local people, community groups, and other organisations can express an interest in having a greater involvement in the management of local venues - has enabled the Trust to take the lease on in order to deliver their plans to at first remediate the site before planting grass, wildflowers, trees and hedges as well as creating outdoor social and community learning spaces as the project develops.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, Convener for Neighbourhood Assets at Glasgow City Council, said: "A huge amount of work has been put into getting us to this point by both The Rosemount Development Trust and our officers, and I am confident that this land will now be put to much better use with significantly more community input. Supporting the delivery of additional day care provision in Drumchapel will also be welcomed by parents locally and turning vacant land back to productive community use is a major priority for this administration."