Plans revealed for various vacant buildings in Clydebank

The Post ventured across town recently to pinpoint notable properties and discover what the future holds for them.

Five buildings caught our reporter’s eye including the Brunswick, Montreal, and Quebec Houses in Mountblow, and the former Clydebank Health Centre and the Radnor Hotel both in Kilbowie.

Here is what lies in store for each of these properties

Brunswick, Montreal, and Quebec Houses

Bankies travelling on the A82 heading towards the Erskine Bridge will be familiar with three derelict flat blocks that are nestled in behind the Auchentoshan Distillery.

In 2021 we reported that residents had overwhelmingly voted (86 per cent) to be rehoused and for the council-owned flats to be torn down.

Montreal House (Image: Newsquest Staff)At a meeting of West Dunbartonshire Council’s (WDC) housing and communities committee in November of that year it was agreed that the properties would be declared surplus to requirements.

All tenants were subsequently rehomed and received home loss and disturbance payments.

One of the playparks (Image: Newsquest Staff)A consultation run at the time found that 64 per cent of residents wanted the site to be used for new builds while 22 per cent felt the site should be marketed for private development.

The flats have lain empty since.

The buildings have been vacant for over two years (Image: Newsquest Staff)Many of the windows have been boarded up, the flats themselves have been fenced off, and the playparks have fallen silent.

So what does the future hold for this site? 

The Post can now reveal that each of the buildings is set to be flattened next year.

After this surveys on the land will be carried out to determine the best future uses of the site.

A WDC spokesperson said: “Work to procure a demolition contractor for this site is underway, with demolition expected to take place in 2024.

“Once this work has been undertaken, detailed surveys on the land will be carried out which will help determine suitable future uses of the land.”

Former Clydebank health centre

The former health centre [pictured before it closed] is situated on Kilbowie Road (Image: Newsquest staff)The former Clydebank Health Centre building has been vacant since the service officially moved to its new £21.7 million location in Queens Quay in early 2022.

In November last year, we reported that the building which was at the time owned by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde was to be bought by WDC for more than £700k and transformed into new homes.

Members of the housing and communities committee agreed on a price of £707,400.

The local authority has since confirmed that the purchase was completed in June 2023 funded by a Scottish Government Affordable Housing Supply Programme grant.

The site is now listed as a priority project in the council’s Strategic Housing Investment Programme with plans to demolish it.

A WDC spokesperson said: “We are committed to providing high-quality new homes for social rent, and this site is listed as a priority project in our Strategic Housing Investment Programme.

“Pre-demolition surveys and disconnections are underway and feasibility studies to consider the most appropriate options for housing are also being undertaken.”

Radnor Hotel

The Radnor Hotel (Image: Newsquest Staff)The Radnor Hotel sits next door to the former Clydebank Health Centre on Kilbowie Road.

It first opened its doors in the 1960s and was a popular spot with Bankies for over four decades.

We previously reported that in January 2011 R&L Properties, the company that owned the building at the time, had gone into liquidation and that a liquidator (Deloitte) had been appointed.

During this time a spokeswoman for Deloitte explained that the Radnor Park had failed to attract a buyer.

They said the decision to apply WDC to demolish the building was part of an ongoing process to recoup as much money as possible for shareholders who lost significant sums when the business crashed two years ago (in 2011).

In June 2013 an appeal was made by regulars at the venue to keep it open and to secure jobs.

However, in the same year, WDC’s planning committee looked at a revised proposal to replace the Radnor with 28 two-bed flats and associated parking for 46 cars.

Various community councils lodged opposition to the proposal including concerns over the scale of the development and the loss of the hotel as they felt it played a valuable role in the community as a venue for functions, fundraising, weddings, and more.

With regards to job losses and the loss of the facility, the report stated: “Whilst any such impacts would of course be regrettable, the applicant has indicated that the hotel is not operating at capacity and market forces have resulted in the owners [R&L Properties] going into administration.

“Preventing redevelopment of the site would not improve the viability of the existing hotel operation.”

It is understood that this was the last application submitted to the council for this property and has since expired.

Documents from Registers of Scotland show that the hotel was sold for an undisclosed fee in 2018 to SYNERGY Hotels (Glasgow).

The Post was unable to contact the owner of this company.