4 days ago
No action taken over Glasgow City Halls roof fans despite promise
The Glasgow Times previously reported, however, more than two years later there has still been no planning application for the air coolers which are connected to the building's air conditioning system and are understood to be taller than the previous fans.
READ NEXT: This Glasgow building installed fans without permission - and people aren't happy
(Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest) A search for the City Halls on the council's planning portal shows the last time planning permission was sought for the building was for roof repairs in 2021, with no mention of the fans.
A spokesperson for Glasgow Life, which rents the building from City Property, says the fans are a 'like-for-like' replacement to the previous coolers but that they, along with Glasgow City Council, are looking into 'potential remedial works' to mitigate the noise of the fans.
A council spokesperson also confirmed it is the case 'that a Planning Authority cannot take enforcement action against itself'.
City Property, who has owned the building since 2019, is the council-owned property firm.
READ NEXT: Parent says 'many factors' contributing to rise in home education
(Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest) Peter Hayman, who lives in Merchant City near the Halls, says the noise from the fans when they are turned on in warm weather can be 'intrusive' and previously described them in an email to the council as 'ranging between an annoying background hum to an intrusive, oppressive roar'.
Mr Hayman submitted a complaint to the council about the fans in February of this year.
He received an Interim Planning Impact Report dated April 24 which listed planning history as two applications from 2021 which do not reference the new fans and then gave an assessment that 'new ownership issues were required' and he would receive a response in the next seven days.
At the time of writing more than 40 days later, he has still not received a further response, but a City Property spokesperson confirmed to the Glasgow Times it still owns the building but says as Glasgow Life manages and operates it, they cannot comment on the fans.
(Image: Archive) Mr Hayman said: 'The Interim Planning Impact Report that said they were trying to find out who owns the building just seems to be a way of wasting time.
'I've had no response since then.'
Dr Eileen Mills, who also lives in Merchant City, highlights an email sent by a council official to the Scottish Government in September 2023 stated: "I can confirm that we, as the relevant Planning Authority, in liaison with colleagues in Glasgow Life, will be ensuring that the necessary consents are in place."
She said: 'I feel if a commitment has been made that the local planning authority would be ensuring the necessary consents were in place, then that should be honoured.
'Just to say they can't enforce their own ALEOs [Arm's Length External Organisation], does that mean the council can do anything without limit?'
A Glasgow Life spokesperson said: 'In collaboration with colleagues at Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life is continuing to assess the issues associated with the like-for-like replacement cooler unit at the City Halls in order to identify any potential remedial works that may be required to mitigate the noise of the roof fans.'
A council spokesperson added: 'Discussions between the council's planning team are continuing to discuss how they can best mitigate the noise of the roof fans, and the action required to achieve that.'
