THE owner of the derelict Talisman pub in Springburn wants to restart talks with the council over purchasing adjoining land.

Glasgow City Council has begun preparing for a compulsory purchase order after years of stalled negotiations.

Officers hope a voluntarily sale for the Balgrayhill Road site can still progress and are open to meeting with the owner, Ameen Mirza, who has secured a demolition order for the eyesore building.

But, in a letter to councillors, seen by the Glasgow Times, and sent on behalf of Mr Mirza, his representative confirms an interest in “acquiring the adjoining land” owned by the council.

“Our client is interested in purchasing the neighbouring land to the immediate south and west of their demise from GCC,” the letter states.

It adds the council has intimated it isn’t willing to sell the land and £50,000 had been offered.

The council-owned land was previously marketed by City Property in 2014. A recent council report stated this was “in the hope that a further agreement might be reached with the owner that might entail the

early removal of the Talisman building”.

However, the offer was not deemed acceptable by the council.

Further enquiries were made by Mr Mirza in March last year and City Property negotiated on the “basis that any sale of the land would be contingent on the demolition of the Talisman”.

Terms were not agreed and the council withdrew from the negotiations in December last year.

The owner and his representative believe the council has adopted “unrealistic positions”.

“In our view, GCC could have taken a more proactive role in dealing with the Talisman pub for the greater good of the immediate community, the letter states.

It adds “committing resource and funds to compulsorily acquire a site rather than facilitating a commercial deal to gain a positive receipt does not make strategic sense”.

The letter then asks for assistance in “re-establishing channels” with the council so that an agreement can be reached on the sale of the adjoining land.

“This will ensure a positive outcome for an area that has been blighted for too long by the derelict building.”

Demolition work has been held up due to asbestos in the building, which needs to be removed. A contractor is set to be appointed by the end of January.

The pub has been rundown for decades and community representatives have repeatedly called for it to be demolished.

A Springburn Regeneration Forum, led by Springburn Community Council, was formed in March last year. It has called for derelict buildings in the area, including the Talisman, to be redeveloped.

The community council has called for a “concrete” timescale on compulsory purchase plans.

“Hopefully the CPO will speed up its demolition,” a spokesman for the council previously said. “However, the lack of a timetable by giving the owner a ‘reasonable timeframe’ to demolish it himself feels like a red flag whereby he may use it to prolong his ownership and look like he is acting on paper, when in practice he is not.”