Tuesday 30th August 2022 at 7pm in Committee Room 1, Glasgow City Chambers and online via Zoom
1. Welcome
Tam Coyle welcomed everyone to the meeting
2. Attendance and Apologies
2.1 Community Councillors:- Chair: Tam Coyle; Niall McColl, David Cowan; Peter Hayman; Scott Thornton; Eileen Mills; Gary and Rosalind Atkinson
2.2 Residents:- EM, TD, CM, GM, MR, AL, PM
2.3 Elected Members:- Cllr Eva Bolander, Cllr Angus Millar, Cllr Philip Braat and Bailie Christ Mearns
2.4 Ex-officio:- Graeme Naine (North Plan), Ross Barrett (HLM Architects), and Olga Kozlova (Director of Innovation, Strathclyde University)
2.5 Apologies:- Kaukab Stewart MSP
3. Minutes of Last Meeting (26 July 2022)
3.1 Corrections to minutes – No changes were requested
3.2 Approval: Proposed by: Niall McColl, Seconded by: Tam Coyle
3.3 Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
4. Treasurer’s Report
There was no Treasurer Report as Carla Arrighi was on holiday. Scott Thornton, in collaboration with Niall McColl, reported that we are awaiting confirmation if Warner Bros. film company has paid the MCTCC invoice sent to them. They reported we are also expecting £100 from another film company.
5. Police Report
There was no police report as they were unable to attend.
6. Presentation – Planning Application for TIC2 at Strathclyde University
Graeme Naine, Ross Barrett and Olga Kozlova thanked MCTCC for being invited to meeting. HLM Architects have submitted to GCC the Proposal of Application Notice for ‘Tic 2’ (Technology Innovation Centre 2) building. The have started the formal pre-application consultation which runs to late September. They expect to submit a full planning application by late November. More information about the building is available online at:
Olga Kozlova explained that it would be called “Charles Huang Advanced Technology Centre” It is the biggest project Strathclyde University has been working towards for the last 3 years. The purpose is to expand upon the work that is being done in ‘Tic 1’, which is now full, located next to this site, wherein scientists are carrying out innovation and research with private companies to produce prototype goods.
The entrance to Tic 2 will face the High St Rail Station, and so will be a fitting start to the new Glasgow City Innovation District (GCID). The ground floor will be open to the public and community (to some extent) and include an innovation hub. This will promote social innovation, allow for the public to test new products from the research which carried out there. It will bring high quality jobs to the city centre.
Graeme Naine – Strathclyde has appointed a full project team. The design proposals are subject to review after the consultation has finished. Ross Barrett took us through the slides and added supplementary information. It is well placed for sustainability and active travel due to close location to transport hubs. They have looked at the history of the High Street and capture the concept of courts and closes. The presentation and consultation information would be distributed MCTCC members.
Daniel – Is it the case that the West side is not yet a confirmed projects at the Herald building? Graeme Naine explained that he understands currently there are no plans for the West side plot. However, he could not say that this would not change in the future, but was sure if this were the case, it would not be until after Tic 2 was built. Strathclyde university would brief MCTCC well in advance of any such plans at this location.
Scott Thornton enquired how the community would have access / use of the ground floor? Olga Kozlova explained that it would not be full access, the work upstairs must remain private. Just as in Tic 1 the ground floor will be open to the public where there will be a café, have some public events or information galleries which would be open to the public.
7. Elected Members Report
Councillor Angus Millar
City Centre Consultation, the deadline for this is the 12th of September, it would be good if MCTCC submitted a response. It relates, in some ways to mobility access to the city centre:- https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/city-centre-transformation-plan
Broad discussions around the People 1st Zones:- reducing traffic from the city centre and improving access for disabled people. He noted how MCTCC had contributed to pedestrian strategy plans in the past, even though that is no specific duty to this, it would be useful if they did and would give a mandate for the work being considered.
Likewise for the George Square consultation is ongoing, there have been many phases as GCC has learned from previous changes that a broad consensus is required for changes to be accepted. The concept designs have been widely publicised with questions asked if people would like more grassy areas, benches and if there are too many trees included. It is known that people like to spend time there, hold civic and private events there. To take part in the survey please visit:-
https://www.ourplaceglasgow.com/get-involved/george-square
There has been industrial action due to a national pay dispute by the cleansing department for the last week. It has still some days to run. When the strike ends, domestic refuge collection will restart. Negotiations are ongoing to resolve this pay dispute.
Tam has arranged to do a walkabout with Eva and himself on Tuesday 7th of September.
Bailie Christy-Mearns
Bailie Christy-Mearns has also recently done a walking survey of the Merchant City. It was good to see the ‘Spaces for People’ planters and benches have been installed. These are an improvement on the improvised wooden planters used beforehand. These now have an aesthetic, clean design befitting of the Merchant City. It is good GCC has approved these to become permanent fixtures.
Although the installation of these has used up some parking spaces, it has been done in a safe way she has been assured. It improves the look of the streetscape and allows greater access for everyone. Depending on how the new designs work out, it could be that planters can be relocated elsewhere thus allowing for more seating to be added.
In response to suggestions from a member of MCTCC she has asked that the Planning Portal show, in a better way, the documents for planning applications. Specifically this relates to the dates of the documents for the Ingram St carpark development. Those submissions which were uploaded before the end date will be considered valid and will be taken into account for the overall application.
The funding for a citywide speed limit of 20mph for Glasgow has been approved. She is pleased to have been involved in this public safety initiative and understands the signage is now going up across the city. She thanks MCTCC for supporting this policy for many years.
She is an advocate for the City Centre Transformation plan. It will improve the ‘pedestrian experience’ of their use of the streets with more ‘greenery’. Likewise, the George Square proposal will be positive step forward, in collaboration with all the other initiatives. More seated grass areas in the centre, and around the perimeter, as this would promote better recreational areas for children to play. However the plan does not consider the look of the surrounding streets and these need improvement, especially considering it is meant to be a conservation area. There is too much signage and advertising.
Councillor Eva Bolander
She visited the Saltmarket Rail Bridge consultation that was located in Osbourne Street in August. She was not happy about the time that will be taken to do the work and noise it will create. It will be done during the night, and she has already had a number of complaints even before the work has started. Network Rail the say the works have to be done as soon as possible and that the residents have been notified there will be noise during the night. It is believed the Saltmarket bridge is only used for network rail activities and not for passenger trains. Trains crossing the bridge are going to, or from, Shields Road depot for cleaning or repair.
The Infrastructure Fund was put before the North West Area Partnership in June.
She consulted with her colleagues and the Partnership. Some of the funds will go towards resurfacing of road on Cochrane St. Following complaints, it was agreed that the following pedestrian crossing workings have to investigated: Montrose St and Cochrane St and John St and Cochrane St.
The Friends of Ramshorn Graveyard and a date for the inaugural meeting has been set for 6th of September. She has had a summary report from the Merchant City Festival and was pleased to see that it was very well attended including by families.
Queen St was closed today due to emergency road works at Ingram St and George Street though it was not known why.
Baillie Philip Braat
Good news about the Merchant City Festival. He has reported that some of the older benches around the Counting House Wetherspoons adjacent to George Square require re-painting.
It has not gone unnoticed that some businesses have deemed it suitable to utilise the whole pavement for their commercial use. Residents and the public, are only able to pass by walking on the road; there has to be a balance here. Any cases like this should be reported to the Ward Councillors.
As was seen in Edinburgh previously, it is not just domestic bins that are now overflowing due to the industrial action. It will take some time after for the bin men to clear up all mess that has been accumulating. He has noticed that even before the strike there was mess building-up in some areas and he encourages these to reported after the strike ends.
He thanked Mr Scott Thornton for assisting him in setting-up the visit to the Viridor refuse recycling centre on Thursday 15th September between 1pm and 3pm. Cllr Braat was unsure if he was able to attend this meeting as he has a busy schedule around that time.
He received an email from a David Boyd of Network Rail in response to resident complaints, however Mr Boyd feels that the best solution is to continue with the night work so as to ‘just get the work done.’
Cllr Millar has invited him to a meeting at Strathclyde University to look at the Tic 2 plans. Cycle September are trying to get people to take their bikes out in that month and any month afterwards.
Questions for Elected Members
Tam has found an empty Nitrous Oxide (NO) gas cannister in the Ramshorn graveyard.
There was also something at a car park.
Scott Thornton asked if the recycling centre is open, Cllr Bolander confirmed that it was closed during the strike. He asked about how members of the public were notified of planning hearings. It was discussed that the methods and timescales used by the Planning Department were unknown, Cllr Bolander recommended asking the department employee involved in the application.
Mark Ripley, who lives on Saltmarket, noted that there is little traffic flow on the road and so the works to the Saltmarket Rail Bridge by Network Rail could be done during the day. It would appear as though they are just doing the works at time that suits their business rather than local residents, despite the complaints.
8. Planning
| Planning Applications for August | Address | Details |
| 22/01706/FUL 71 | 71 Argyle Street Glasgow G2 8BJ | External alterations, with installation of shopfront at Dunlop Street, extension toloading platform at Osbourne Street and works associated with subdivision ofretail unit to form two separate units (Class 1) |
| 22/01872/PAN | 185-211 High Street/30 College Street | Erection of technology and innovation centre (Class 10 Non residentialinstitutions), ( Class 4 Business) ancillary uses and associated works. |
| 22/01773/ADV | 82 Queen Street Glasgow G1 3DN | Display of one non-illuminated projecting sign and non-illuminated vinyl appliedto fascia. |
| 22/01895/FUL | 15 St Margaret’s Place Glasgow G1 5JY | Use of puzzle room (Class 11) as retail unit (Class 1) |
| 22/01912/FUL | 76 Argyle Street Glasgow G2 8A | Frontage alterations and installation of click and collect kiosk. |
| 22/01862/FUL | 9 – 11 Argyle Street Glasgow | Use of retail premises (Class 1) as flatted development ( 4 units) (Sui generis) andexternal alterations |
| 22/01796/FUL | 4 – 8 Dixon Street Glasgow | Erection of serviced apartments with ground floor retail and roof top restaurant :Section 42 Application to vary condition 41 of Planning Permission 19/01694/FUL |
| 22/01899/FUL | 101 Trongate Glasgow | Use of vacant premises as 4No. flatted dwelling with installation of replacementwindows, formation of dormer windows, frontage alterations and fabric repairs |
| 22/02032/ADV | 76 Argyle Street Glasgow G2 8AG | Display of illuminated signage. |
| 22/02080/FUL | 110 Queen Street Glasgow G1 3BX | Installation of telecommunications equipment and associated works |
| 22/02084/FUL | 34 Queen Street Glasgow G1 3DX | Use of betting office (sui generis) as amusement arcade (sui generis) withfrontage alterations and associated works: Application under Section 42 for noncompliancewith condition 3 of planning application 20/02513/FUL relating tohours of operation |
| 22/02138/ADV | Site Of Bus Shelter Outside 12 On Glassford Street Glasgow | Display of internally illuminated digital double sided advertising |
All planning applications can be viewed by visiting https://publicaccess.glasgow.gov.uk
9. Licensing
There were no licensing applications this month.
Tam is looking at why there was no Licencing notification of the Beach event at King St carpark to ensure this does not happen again.
10. Any Other Competent Business
- Tam noted that this is the second month with no Police representation.
- There was a break-in at the Herald Building
- Glasgow Live website reported a raid on Parnie Street on Thursday 18th of August.
- It has been noted that the vast majority of GCC office workers appear to be still working from home, even though the Covid pandemic has all but past.
- It was noted that there has be no response, despite filling a Doodle poll for availability for the ‘Rain Garden’ initiative MCTCC were contacted about in August.
Date of Next Meeting
Tuesday 27th September at 7pm