Council give Celtic green-light over £100,000 land sale

Celtic will now be able to provide match-day parking for disabled fans on land at Parkhead after councillors gave the green light to a £100,000 sale.

The Scottish champions approached Glasgow City Council about buying the Janefield Street site, which has been vacant since 2014, with the price then decided by the District Valuer.

The sale was approved at a meeting on Thursday – but one councillor questioned why council land seemed to be valued lower than that sold by the private sector.

Councillor Jim Kavanagh said: “When I look at valuations in the private sector and I look at the valuations in the public sector, I’m totally shocked at how little our prime sites go for – and how the valuations are so low in the sector.”

He cited a “massive area” of land at Hallrule Drive in Cardonald, sold for £90,000 to be used as social housing, as an example.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, chairman of the contracts and property committee, said the authority “quite often gets questions on how we arrive at a value”.

A council officer said it was decided by the District Valuer, an “independent public agency” made up of a “team of chartered surveyors with expert knowledge of valuation”.

He said the land would be valued in relation to its proposed use and any restrictions which might be imposed.

“They would have been instructed by City Property, on behalf of the council, to undertake the valuation of the site. It would be in line with its use as a car park.”

Celtic’s disabled section is located in the north west corner of the stadium, with its entrance adjacent to the Janefield Street land.

A report to councillors stated the site was previously used for housing but did not transfer to Glasgow Housing Association as part of the housing stock transfer and remained instead with the authority.

Terms of the sale state the site “shall be used for the parking of vehicles, in connection with the operation of Celtic Park, and/or for pedestrian and vehicular access and egress to and from any adjacent land, declaring that this shall not prevent the property being used for the marshalling and management of crowds on match days/in relation to the operation of Celtic Park”.

The conditions of sale state it can’t be used for purposes other than the disabled parking use.

There are two access gates to the site as well as floodlights.