EAST Renfrewshire councillors have approved Westpoint Homes’ proposal for the old Eastwoodhill Eventide home on Fenwick Road.

The listed building will be turned into four flats, with 52 more homes built on the site.
Unlisted buildings and an extension to the ex-care home can be demolished.

Councillor Betty Cunningham welcomed the scheme, which she hoped would stop young people using the site as a “drinking den”.

“I know people have spoken to me about the problem of young ones going in there at night,” she said.

“I was quite glad to see it coming forward. If it’s getting developed, then they certainly won’t be using it as a drinking den.”

The development will include 21 two-bedroom flats and 35 three-bedroom flats.

Built as a private residence in the mid-1800s, the building was converted into a care home in the 1960s.

However, it closed in July 2016 on the orders of a sheriff after concerns for the residents.

“A recent unannounced inspection identified serious concerns about the quality of care experienced by residents,” a Care Inspectorate spokesperson said at the time.

Council planners had concluded the development, on brownfield land, was acceptable and recommended it was approved.

Councillor Stewart Miller said: “The one thing I hate to see is good agricultural land getting built on.

“This is the exact opposite of that.

“Eastwoodhill might have been a big house at one time, then it was the Eventide home, now it’s going to be 56 flats, which is going to maybe save agricultural land somewhere else.”

And Councillor Angela Convery added: “It’s a vast improvement on what’s there at the minute.”

There were four objections to the plan, with concerns including the impact on road safety, the scale of the proposal, noise during construction and loss of trees.

A 112- space car park is included in the scheme as well as storage for bikes.

Last year, a similar application for the site was withdrawn.

The new application seeks to “improve the setting of the listed building and includes increasing the space between new properties and the B-listed home”.