DELIGHTED council chiefs have welcomed multi-million pound plans to revamp the old Shanks Industrial Park.

Members of East Renfrewshire’s planning committee last week gave the green light to a development by Cruden Homes and AGN Constructions Ltd to transform the derelict 44-acre site in Blackbyres Road, Barrhead, into a major housing area.

No details on how many houses would be built have been included at this time but principal planner Sean McDaid told councillors that future applications would provide information.

Councillor Betty Cunningham said: “It’s been a long time coming. I really welcome this. I think it’ll be absolutely first class, considering what we’ve had to put up with.”

Provost Jim Fletcher added: “I’m pleased what is effectively derelict land is coming into public use.”

The site falls within a ‘Development High Risk Area,’ identified by the Coal Authority, with a number of coal mining hazards, including two mine entries.

As a result, the council’s property and technical services team has ordered a full site investigation.

A report to councillors states: “It is anticipated that a comprehensive investigation would consider the site constraints such as contamination, culverts, bunds, coal mines, significant areas of made-up ground with a mixture of bearing capacities, flood risk, existing underground culvert and previous uses.

"All of these will potentially impact on the net developable acreage, layout of the site and value.”

More than 50 representations were sent to the council and these include concerns such as traffic congestion, road safety issues, loss of privacy for nearby residents and an increase in noise and air pollution.

However, the report states a number of these matters will be considered at the detailed application stage.

The W.G. Renfrew factory recently ceased operations on the site, which includes the remnants of previous buildings and a small area of grass used for the grazing of cattle.