Go-Ahead Given For New Houses In Upper Gourock

Councillors have approved a new residential development in Gourock at McPherson Drive.

Inverclyde Planning Board gave the go-ahead to Titan Homes (Scotland) Ltd to demolish the McPherson Centre, a disused council property, and build 22 three-bedroom houses.

The semi-detached homes will be on land bounded by Tower Drive, Jacobs Drive and McPherson Drive and have been submitted by Rebecchi Architectural in Gourock.

There were six objections to the proposal. Concerns included loss of a “much-loved landmark” that could be used as a community asset; loss of trees and the impact on wildlife; and an increase in traffic. Planning officials had recommended approval.

They said the development was “compatible with the character and amenity of the area in terms of land use and residential density”.

Their report continued: “With respect to design and materials, the proposed new dwellings are of a modern design and this approach is appropriate.

“A strong frontage to Tower Drive is proposed with ten of the dwellings fronting and taking access to Tower Drive. The remainder of the dwellings access from and front onto a new road created from McPherson Drive and this also provides a strong frontage within the development contributing to a welcoming environment.

“The McPherson Centre is not a listed building nor is it located within a conservation area. Accordingly, the demolition of this building does not alone warrant the refusal of planning permission.”

Officials also stated: “The public benefits in seeking to support new residential development in order to meet Inverclyde’s housing needs outweigh the loss of the unprotected trees on this site and compensatory planting of trees of a suitable native species and appropriate for a residential setting can be provided as part of the landscaping scheme for the development.”

A range of traffic concerns had been raised in the public objections, however, the council’s head of roads and transportation had not raised concerns regarding any knock-on effect in respect of parking or traffic.

Bowman Rebecchi directors, Andrew Bowman and Marco Rebecchi said:

“Bowman Rebecchi is delighted that this much-needed development has been given approval by Inverclyde Council and look forward to marketing and selling these new homes.

“We have already received significant interest in the development and expect to begin pre-sales in the early Summer.

“This promises to be a fantastic development that will further enhance the local housing stock and will secure some much-needed new housing for Gourock to meet the growing demand in Inverclyde.”

The McPherson Centre is a former adult learning disability facility declared surplus by Inverclyde Council in 2018 and subsequently closed when services moved to the Fitzgerald Centre in Greenock.

For further details on the development, click here.

For more information, please contact Bowman Rebecchi.

This article appeared in Inverclyde Now.