A sanctuary for water voles will be created in Easterhouse if a land swap between Glasgow’s council and a housing association goes ahead.
Wheatley Homes owns a 3.75-acre site — intersected by Baldragon Road — where Glasgow City Council wants to create the sanctuary.
In exchange, the housing association would like to take on two council-owned sites in the area, including the former Bishoploch Primary School land, to provide new social housing.
Councillors will be asked to approve talks over a deal at a meeting tomorrow (Thursday).
It would not be “a nil value swap of the sites”. Council officials have reported: “The acquisition site and disposal sites will each be assessed on their own merits.
“If the value of the disposal sites is higher than the value of the acquisition site, then the difference in value will generate a capital receipt for Glasgow City Council.
“From an initial assessment of value, a financial contribution from Glasgow City Council is not anticipated.”
Water voles are a protected species as they are one of the fastest declining wild mammals in the UK.
However, large populations have been recorded in the east end of the city living in long grassland in parks, road verges, gardens and derelict land.
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A Seven Lochs and North East Glasgow water vole conservation action plan has been produced, which aims to direct conservation efforts and support regeneration projects.
The ‘excambion’ — exchange of land — would allow Wheatley Homes to redevelop the land, delivering 45 units of social housing.
The former Bishoploch Primary has been demolished, leaving a vacant site of almost 5.8 acres. The second site set to be acquired by Wheatley Homes is just under one acre and “overgrown with grass and trees”.
That land would be “used as amenity ground to support the residential development” as a “combination of steep slopes and a public right of way crossing the site makes the area undevelopable for housing”.
The site set to be acquired by the council currently includes a substation.
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