COUNCILLORS have approved a plan for flats on a high-profile site at the northern entrance to the Gorbals.

New Gorbals Housing Association (NGHA) has been given permission to build an eight-storey block on vacant land at the junction of Crown Street and Laurieston Road.

It will have 33 affordable, social rent apartments, 11 with two bedrooms and 22 with three bedrooms.

The application was given the go-ahead at Glasgow’s planning applications committee meeting today.

Councillors had previously continued the application to see if some from of children’s playspace could be provided but it was not feasible to do so.

Twenty-three letters of objection — including a petition with 54 signatories — were received by the council, raising concerns including the design and scale of the buildings, parking provision, loss of green space and overshadowing.

City planners had recommended that permission be given stating: “The proposals have been appropriately scaled for the immediate context and have been designed to suitably respond to all public vistas.”

There will be no dedicated parking spaces — the allocation process for the flats will identify applicants who do not require one.

The planning report stated: “If parking was to become a future issue, NGHA have confirmed that tenants of the proposed development could access..111 car parking spaces they own and manage, 22 of which are within 150 metres of the site and the remainder being within 300 metres.”

Permission was given in 2003 for a 14-storey tower containing 50 flats on the site but worsening of the economy and the ambitious nature of the proposals led to that development not proceeding.