REFUSAL of a plan to demolish an east Glasgow pub and build 24 two-bedroom flats has been overturned on appeal.

Glasgow City Council officials last year rejected the proposal for land in Edrom Street, near Shettleston Road, including the Palaceum Bar.

But councillors on Glasgow’s local review body have voted 2:1 to allow the development.

Although there were no public objections to the application, planning permission had been refused for various reasons. Officials felt the proposals would lead to overdevelopment of the site and that there would not be enough communal garden and open space.

They added that there was no detail provided regarding car and cycle parking and that there was an overuse of parking to the front of the building to the detriment of visual amenity.

A report by planners stated: “There has been no justification in terms of place-making for the developer to seek a four-storey flatted development.

“The built form proposed would be a very prominent feature on the street when compared to the existing townscape which includes two-storey housing and three-storey flats and cannot be supported in layout, scale and massing or design terms.”

A document submitted on the applicant’s behalf argued that four-storey residential and commercial properties “surround the site”.

Regarding parking, it pointed out that the development would be just 100 metres from a main bus route — Shettleston Road — and is close to Carntyne Station. The document also stated that there are several residential blocks with front-located parking nearby.

On the issue of amenity space, the appeal statement indicated that the flats would be within 100 metres of Tollcross Park.

At the review board hearing, Councillor Jean Morgan was strongly opposed saying allowing the application would be “driving a coach and horses through planning policy”.

She felt the development should be three storeys high, the same as the building immediately next door. Councillor Morgan was not persuaded there was justification for going higher and she believed that the height impacted design, density and the level communal amenity space.

She was also concerned that there was potential for overlooking into back courts and that the applicant failed to supply numerous reports on issues such as cycle parking, electric vehicle charging, sunlight analysis and materials

Councillor Michael Cullen pointed out there were four-storey buildings near the other end of the site, on Shettleston Road, and that all the missing information could be provided and the matters dealt with as conditions of approval.

He and committee convener Bailie Glenn Elder voted in favour.