A £50m development has been planned for the 40-acre site of the former Ruchill Hospital in Glasgow.

Plans for the site which has lain derelict for over ten years include restoration of key listed buildings on the site of the former Victorian infectious diseases hospital and the development of more than 500 homes.

Developers Gladedale and Bellwayare are to submit a planning application for the project early this year and it is hoped work will begin on-site in 2009.

If approved it could one of the most significant new housing projects in Glasgow.

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The Ruchill district has formally been considered one of Glasgow's most deprived areas but there has been a resurgence of interest in the area with demolition of tenement properties and escalation of land prices.

The Ruchill development will be the third hospital site redevelopment project to be undertaken by Gladedale in the west of Scotland in the near future.

Crawford Copstick, managing director of Gladedale, said: "This is an outstanding regeneration opportunity and our development will play a key role in the continuing revitalisation of this part of North Glasgow."

Ann McKechin, Glasgow North MP, welcomed progress on the site but hopes more land can be unlocked for further social housing developments: "No-one wants the site to remain derelict and I would have wanted social housing here but land prices in part have prevented that happening."

The Ruchill development will be Gladedale's third hospital site redevelopment in the west of Scotland.

(GK/JM)