CITY councillors have approved 250 flats for part of the old Meat Market site in Glasgow’s East End.

Home Group have been given permission to build mid-market apartments for rent on land at the junction of Duke Street and Bellgrove Street.

There will be 252 flats — 79 with one bedroom and 173 with two bedrooms. Twenty of the ground floor flats would be wheelchair accessible. A commercial unit, at the Duke Street/Bellgrove Street corner, is also part of the scheme.

Glasgow’s planning applications committee gave the go-ahead today. A report by planners, who recommended approval, stated: “The layout of the development has been designed to address to the two historic main thoroughfares of Duke Street and Bellgrove Street.

“Strong street frontages are created by six-storey buildings on Duke Street and Bellgrove Street. At the junction of Bellgrove and Duke Street the building rises to seven storeys.

“Within the site a new road runs north and south from the former Eastern District Hospital to the listed Meatmarket Sheds. This divides the site into western and eastern areas. The route is framed by two four-storey apartment buildings.”

The land involved is part of a larger site which is to be brought back into use with the creation of development platforms, a network of roads, footpaths and cycle routes and a new linear park.

The planning report stated: “The proposal supports the wider regeneration aspects. In developing the northern and eastern edges, it connects the site back into Dennistoun.

“The layout of the development helps to reanimate Duke Street and Bellgrove Street, improving the safety for pedestrians using the street.

The Meat Market site in May 2018. Land remediation has since started.

Documents submitted with the application stated: “This is an exciting opportunity to develop a housing-led proposal on a key site to the east of the city centre assisting Glasgow City Council in realising their ambitions for the wider Meat market masterplan.”