August 16 2021

A proposal of application notice filed with East Dunbartonshire Council calls for a new retail unit and drive-through cafe at West Retail Park, Milngavie.

Park owner Magell Ltd intend to demolish an Arnold Clark garage on expiry of their lease early next year, enabling the construction of a separate restaurant and retail unit.

In a proposal statement, the developer wrote: "The proposed redevelopment will greatly enhance the visual appearance of West Retail Park. It will support the role of the West Retail Park as a key retail location that complements Milngavie town centre and other retail provision in both Milngavie and Bearsden enhancing the range and choice of shopping available for local residents. It will reduce the need for East Dunbartonshire residents to have to go outside their local area to meet their shopping requirements.

"Magell have extensively engaged with potential occupiers for the new retail units and are fully confident that, if consented to by East Dunbartonshire Council, can secure occupiers for the proposed new units."

Overseen by Belfast based Like architects the work will be subject to two virtual webinar presentations to be held tomorrow (17 August) and Thursday (19 August) between 15:00 and 18:00.

18 Comments

#1 Posted by Urban Animation on 16 Aug 2021 at 17:06 PM

Who would win a fight between a global climate catastrophe and a Range Rover collecting drive-by coffee from a retail park?

#2 Posted by Peter on 17 Aug 2021 at 09:42 AM

Yeah, make it drive through everything!

#3 Posted by Hamish Ashcroft on 17 Aug 2021 at 11:03 AM

The amazing thing I find about this sort of car centric development, is that because they set aside so much prime developable land, and money for the construction/maintenance of the car parks, people who don’t drive end up massively subsidising the costs of those who do drive. In return they get a noisy, polluted, unpleasant, dangerous walk home amongst all the range rovers and BMWs

#4 Posted by StyleCouncil on 17 Aug 2021 at 11:30 AM

My idea of hell captured in 3 images...

#5 Posted by modernish on 17 Aug 2021 at 12:00 PM

@#3 - except, of course, that's not really the case. The cost of a coffee/whatever the retail unit sells isn't directly related to their expenditure on their premises. Also, it's a bit of a stretch to call this 'prime developable land'. Without a way to get to more than those in a short walk from this site to it there would be no development.
Commuter areas are, by their very nature, a trickier nut to crack in terms of sustainable transport. The more likely way to resolve this situation is the transition from fossil fuel powered cars to electric vehicles with the electricity coming from sustainable sources. In this scenario we still need private vehicles and, by extension, somewhere to park the things whilst we stock up on provisions. City and town centre residents have less dependency on private vehicles, but villages and commuter areas will still require a solution to allow people to have mobility on demand.

#6 Posted by Hamish Ashcroft on 17 Aug 2021 at 13:03 PM

#5, How isnt it the case tho? The cost of products in chain of shops will be directly impacted by the cost of the land those shops are built on, the construction costs and maintenance costs. And if, for every shop, they need twice or three times as much land to accommodate roads and parking, those land/construction/maintenance costs are going to be higher.

#7 Posted by Ross Mitchell on 17 Aug 2021 at 13:30 PM

#5
"Without a way to get to more than those in a short walk from this site to it there would be no development."
Maybe, but that doesn't automatically mean the solution is a car centric development!

#8 Posted by RoddyYarr on 17 Aug 2021 at 13:33 PM

Developers and their team do what they do but the irony of replacing car sales with retail that attracts more cars EV or not is obvious. In a climate emergency why build more space for trade until we use the retail space in the village centre and that urban realm is in need of improvement IMO

#9 Posted by Whispering Andy on 17 Aug 2021 at 13:34 PM

Whisper it.....but these Costa type chains standardise their pricing strategy across the region....whether there's a car park or not.

You are correct in that full rentals are factored into their overall operational model, but its a bit argumentative to start going down that route I would say.

#10 Posted by Urban guru on 17 Aug 2021 at 13:45 PM

At the very least the retail and drive-thru units should face Main Street rather than presenting a solid wall in one case, and a rear in the other case. They should be located directly onto Main Street and thereby walk-in - with no access roads in front of them.

#11 Posted by Hamish Ashcroft on 17 Aug 2021 at 13:49 PM

#5 You argue that there is simply no alternative to living in a car centric hellscape if you live in ‘villages and commuter areas’. Isn’t this just about how we have spent the last 60 years designing our cities? Many older villages exist perfectly happy without having acres of parking around every corner, simply because they were designed around people and not the car... If we design our suburbs in a way that incentivises everyone to drive everywhere 24/7 because there is no practical alternative, then they will! However, if we design places that incentivises public transport and active travel, and makes it difficult to drive everywhere, then they will change behaviour! Our obsession with cars has been a choice, not an inevitability

#12 Posted by modernish on 17 Aug 2021 at 16:13 PM

Dear Hamish, I think you're reading a bit too much into this. The price of a coffee here will be the same as almost every other costa in the land. Most of the cost is profit rather than direct costs. But if you want to argue about that, be my guest.
You are right that the "obsession with cars has been a choice", and one that has been made. We either find a way to work with what we have and make it better bringing everyone along with us. Or we shout and shout and stamp our feet and everyone stops listening. Many villages do exist perfectly happy without lots of parking but that's because the residents get in their car and drive to the supermarket. If you've ever lived in a rural community or met someone who has you'd appreciate that personal transport is a necessity and some time you just can't wait for the weekend to pass before the next bus comes.

#13 Posted by Robin B's Discount on 18 Aug 2021 at 13:20 PM

Hamish, your position on this is mindboggling! If we make it difficult to drive to shops they will not exist. Are you on the SNP Economy think tank? Sounds like you, Nic and Swinney share the same passion for destroying the economy.

#14 Posted by Whispering Andy on 18 Aug 2021 at 13:27 PM

Whisper it...... but I'm pretty sure Hamish Ashcroft is pulling your yarn.

#15 Posted by Ross Mitchell on 19 Aug 2021 at 10:24 AM

"If we make it difficult to drive to shops they will not exist"
That's so obviously not true. Yes we have all been well conditioned into thinking that is true, but it does take much intelligence or imagination to realise that we can recreate our towns and cities to be far better and less reliant on cars.

#16 Posted by Robin B's Discount on 19 Aug 2021 at 12:44 PM

Good luck with your outskirts of town shopping park without parking Ross. Let me know how many funders through money at it please.

#17 Posted by Dunkky on 19 Aug 2021 at 23:29 PM

These last few comments prove Hamish's point perfectly.

#18 Posted by EJ on 2 Sep 2021 at 22:34 PM

Not clear from this whether access/egress is via the existing roundabout or additional access/egress planned on the main Road. Should we be encouraging a drive through and the additional traffic and pollution this will bring!

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