A Paisley man who lives beside Hawkhead Bowling Club is asking why a plan to build homes on one of the club's greens was approved without ever going in front of councillors.

In May, Renfrewshire Council granted planning permission in principle for housing on the club's south green. The indicative layout shows two terraced blocks of three homes each, facing onto Newtyle Road.

The application drew 24 comments in support, 17 objections and one neutral comment. It was decided by council planning officers under delegated powers rather than by the planning board.

"Something is not right"

Paul Gallagher, 59, lives on Newtyle Road and was one of the objectors. He says two councillors on the planning committee told him they were surprised the application hadn't come to them.

"The planning office told me they have delegated authority to do that, and indeed they may have," he said. "But when I wrote to councillors, two on the planning committee told me they are astonished that it never went to one. They said that as part of custom and practice if there are objections, it normally goes to a planning committee."

He also made a Freedom of Information request for the correspondence on the application. He says it shows planners had at one point suggested flats could be built on the land, an idea the club and its architects turned down because they didn't think it would get permission.

"The bowling club itself is designated as open space, which means it needs really quite serious consideration if anything's going to be built on it," he added. "The objections that we raised have never been tackled in any meaningful way whatsoever."

Why the club wants to sell

Hawkhead Bowling Club was founded in 1921. In its application, made through Framed Estates, it said the cost of keeping two greens and a clubhouse had become unsustainable, especially the south green, which is still maintained but has fallen out of use as membership has dropped.

Money from the sale would go towards running the club and the north green that it is keeping. Without it, the club warned, it could lose "all facilities and a valued social hub for the local community".

Supporters argued that losing the whole club would be far worse for the area and that two greens are no longer needed. Objectors raised road safety, the loss of an outdoor sports facility, privacy and overshadowing, disruption during building work, and terraced housing being out of keeping with the street.

What the council says

A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said the application "was considered and determined in line with the relevant legislation and the Council's adopted Scheme of Delegation". They added that the planning officer's Report of Handling deals with the site's open space designation in the local development plan and responds to the points made for and against the plan.

Planning permission in principle settles whether housing is acceptable on the site. The detailed design would need a further application before any building could start.

Image: Newtyle Road, Paisley. Photo: Billy McCrorie, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.