A LARGE housing development in Barrhead has been approved by the local authority.

East Renfrewshire Council has rubber-stamped Miller Homes’ application for 140 new homes in the town. Councillors took just minutes to consider and greenlight the company’s proposals at a meeting of ERC’s planning committee last week.

The site, off Springhill Road and just south of the Jerry Park, is part of ERC’s larger plan for “Barrhead South” – which will eventually see the construction of more than 1,000 new homes and a train station on fields to the south of the town.

Chairman of ERC’s planning committee and Barrhead councillor Kenny Hay has hailed the development as “long overdue”.

He said: “There has not been much in the way of new house building in Barrhead for a long time and this is long overdue.

“It will result in vast improvements to the roads and infrastructure in the area. As well as this there will be around 25 affordable houses built in the development.

“There are many young people and couples who are currently living in private lets in Barrhead who are crying out for the opportunity to own their own homes.”

The application was submitted in early 2015.

And this latest development should attract more builders to the area, according to Cllr Hay.

He continued added: “Now that we have a couple of developers interested and making moves towards building in Barrhead, it should attract more and we will get some serious bidders coming in.”

The News contacted Miller Homes for a comment but at the time of going to print they had not responded. However, in a previous statement they said: “We seek development opportunities in suburban areas we deem to be appropriate for the homes we typically build and sell, and as such Barrhead is an attractive proposition.”

Around 1,000 homes are to be built to the south of Auchenback on former farmland which has been marked for development by East Renfrewshire Council.

The includes “brownfield” sites stretching from Springhill Road, along Springfield Road, to Aurs Road at the opposite end of Auchenback.

The development, dubbed ‘Barrhead South’, is also expected to include a new train station on the Neilston to Glasgow line, and Transport Scotland and Network Rail, the operators of the line, have already indicated that there is sufficient demand for a station to be built.

As part of a City Deal agreement with Glasgow City Council, East Renfrewshire Council (ERC) will get a £44 million share of a £1 billion funding pot to add to infrastructure in the area – the lion’s share of which is expected to be in Barrhead.

The proposed Barrhead South developments could be built around a new link road to the M77 motorway, as well as the new train station which come under the city deal funding.