Residents slam City Council after Scottish Government kills their park dream
Glasgow city centre residents have expressed their “profound sadness and bitter disappointment” at the Scottish Government’s decision to allow more than 100 flats to be built on a site they have fought for five years to be transformed into Merchant City’s first green space.
Scottish Ministers announced on 16 July they had agreed with the recommendations of its official Reporter, Elspeth Cook, to give the go-ahead for a planning application submitted to Glasgow City Council (GCC) to build the apartments on the site of a car park bounded by Candleriggs, Ingram Street and Albion Street.
This site features a major tourist attraction of a mural depicting wild animals peering through gaps in a wall.
Merchant City and Trongate Community Council (MCTCC), which commissioned the mural, was one of more than 140 objectors to the application, passed by GCC’s Planning Committee in February 2023 on the casting vote of the Chairman. Most Committee members stayed away from that meeting.
Following the protests the decision was ‘called in’ by the Scottish Government because of the possibility that the adjacent Old Fruitmarket and City Halls music venues might have to be closed because of noise complaints from the new neighbours.
The Community Council has campaigned for five years to turn the site, situated opposite the historic Ramshorn Church and Graveyard, into ‘Merchant City Park.’
A spokesman for for MCTCC commented: “We received the news with profound sadness and bitter disappointment.”
He added: ““Merchant City does not have a single park or any other green space, particularly needed in the post-COVID environment.
“Ministers agreed that major issues for consideration included the effects on amenity open space, trees and the mural yet have over-ridden these.
“This was a rare opportunity for the City Council to live up to its to oft-repeated boast of creating a greener Glasgow and work with residents to develop a park for the benefit of local and wider communities to improve health and wellbeing as well as tourism. The proposed building will also partially obliterate a delightful mural photographed by hundreds of visitors each week.”
The development will mean the felling of 18 Cherry Blossom and three Horse Chestnut trees. Ministers said the applicant proposed to plant replacement trees, albeit fewer in number than those removed, and include other planting schemes in a publicly accessible courtyard and rooftop terraces.
Ministers said the developers should make a financial contribution of £110,199 in lieu of on-site amenity provisions, a figure dismissed by MCTCC as “woefully inadequate, adding: “Going on evidence from other Community Councils this will not be spent on the Merchant City."
The formal decision on the planning application has been deferred for at least six months to enable relevant planning obligations or another suitable agreement to be completed.
Ingram St Car Park - Reporter Issues Notice of Intention
The Reporter to the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division of the Scottish Government advised on 16 July that they are minded to grant permission for the redevelopment of the Ingram St Car Park as 109 flats. MCTCC has long campaigned for this site to be developed as a community park.
Tall Buildings in Glasgow - Public Consultation
A public consultation on Tall Buildings in Glasgow has begun in response to the increasing number of these being built and planned, especially in the city centre and on its fringes.
The consultation will run until 30 September, and will help to shape the final design guidance on Tall Buildings - which not only guides the best location and design principles for these, but is a key factor in the determination of planning applications.
Given the increasing pressure to develop these types of buildings, the trend to add additional height to re purposed buildings, and the move to the re-densification and re-population of the city centre, it became clear that further design guidance was necessary.
While strategies such as the Central District Regeneration Framework, City Centre Strategic Development Framework and the River Clyde Strategic Development Framework identify opportunities for increased density and increased height along the Clydeside, it is also considered important to maintain the character of the Glasgow Central Conservation Area.
There are a range of views on Tall Buildings, with many people proposing that they can help reduce sprawl, increase density, and provide opportunities for refurbishment and re-use. Others suggest that they are inherently unsustainable, with a greater consumption of more materials, energy, and resources than lower-rise buildings, and create social and environmental problems.
Glasgow City Council recognises the role taller buildings can play in terms of sustainable and organic growth of the city system, and encourages competent, forward thinking and holistic responses to the challenges of planning, constructing, and maintaining taller buildings - so tall buildings can be sustainable if they are designed and built with care and innovation, and if they are part of a holistic urban planning strategy that balances environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects. However, the council does not view tall buildings are not a panacea for urban sustainability challenges and should be complemented by other forms of low and medium-impact development that promote diversity, liveability and inclusive economic growth.
Current design guidance on Tall Buildings is based on the following factors:
- Quality of the city centre: the distinctive qualities and values of this distinctive place including historic character and context;
- Heritage: understanding the significance of the local historic environment and the potential impact on this significance;
- Visual: the impact on the city centre streetscape, and wider urban landscapes, and views of the skyline. This includes the setting of heritage assets;
- Functional: the design, embodied carbon and carbon cost, construction and operation;
- Transport: the impact on the local transport infrastructure and particularly public transport needs;
- Environmental: the influence on local micro-climates such as creation of wind tunnels, 'canyon' effects, distances between tall buildings, overshadowing, and effect on heritage assets in terms of the impact these micro-climatic changes could have upon their fabric, and how they are experienced; and
- Cumulative: the combined impacts on heritage assets from existing, consented and proposed tall buildings.
The Tall Buildings design guidance was considered earlier this year at meetings hosted by the Glasgow Design Panel and attended by architects, designers and developers, a meeting with Ward 10 (Anderston/city/Yorkhill) community councils, and last month the council hosted a digital round table workshop for UK and international professional and academic experts with previous expertise in producing tall buildings design guidance for similar scale cities to Glasgow. The consultation beginning today will help shape the final design guidance document and is open to anyone with an interest in this topic in Glasgow.
This consultation can be found here.
Information from Glasgow City Council - published by MCTCC 9 July 2024
Britannia Panopticon - July
The Britannia Panopticon Music Hall has an amazing line up of entertainment this month, and indeed every month. MCTCC residents get 10% discount - use the discount code G1PANOPTICON when booking through their ticket website, www.ticketsource.co.uk/panopticon .
The world's oldest surviving music hall is open for general viewing every Thursday and Saturday, and locals can visit for free!
Friends of Ramshorn Graveyard Public Meeting, 29th May 2024
Come along to the City Chambers at 6.30pm on Tuesday 29th May for an update on the Friends of Ramshorn Group. Find out about their latest plans and objectives for the Ramshorn Graveyeard, and their action plan to try and achieve these. The group is always looking for Volunteers and new members, so if you'd like to make a difference to this haven of peace and tranquility in the Merchant City, come along and get involved.
Meeting from 6.30pm in Committee Room 1, 2nd Floor.
Social Hub Mural - Still Time to Have your say
Still time to have your say on the new mural at the social hub! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfzVjZ-W93hTCsZrkzQmNFTN67xB_nw2RE8MCbPk_DDxN-d1Q/viewform
Take a walk - Mural Trail, Tuesday 7th May at 6pm
Murals of the Merchant City - Tuesday 7th May at 6pm
Join Walking Tours of Glasgow - Explore the existing murals around the Merchant City and Trongate for inspiration on what should be on the wall of Social Hub.
Email [email protected] to book
Social Hub Mural Consultation "Make Room for What Matters"
Public Consultation: "Make Room for What Matters" Mural - Candleriggs, Merchant City, Glasgow.
Merchant City & Trongate Council is a vibrant voluntary community organization dedicated to fostering connections, maximizing communication between residents and visitors to the area, whilst celebrating diversity.
In collaboration with the brand new Social Hub Hotel, SWG3 Yardworks Art, MC&TCC and Glasgow City Council are excited to introduce a new public art installation in Candleriggs Square, in the heart of Glasgow's Merchant City. Commissioned by The Social Hub, developed by Yardworks Glasgow and working alongside the community council, this mural aims to inspire reflection on the themes of community, heritage, and cherished moments under the banner of "Make Room for What Matters."
As part of our commitment to inclusivity and community engagement, we value your input to ensure that this mural resonates deeply with the diverse voices of the area. Your perspectives are invaluable in shaping a meaningful and representative piece of public art. We invite residents, business owners, and visitors alike to participate in this exciting consultation process.
There is a consultation document available online, which can be completed until 3rd May 2024.
In-person events
Saturday April 20th - Dynamic consultation at in Merchant City Square
Thursday May 2nd - Print Clan Workshop - The Social Hub, Candleriggs Square
Thursday May 9th - Business consultation evening - Social Hub Hotel. Candleriggs Square
Community Council’s gift to arts centre could be life-saver
City centre residents handed over potentially life saving equipment to an arts community for people with learning disabilities and mental ill-health.
Members of Merchant City and Trongate Community Council (MCTCC) presented a defibrillator to Project Ability which supports diversity in the visual arts sector.
The device, donated by MCTCC as part of its community grants programme, is used in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to save the lives of those suffering cardiac arrest. It will be kept at Project Ability’s studios at 103 Trongate and available for everyone attending classes or working or visiting anywhere in the building which houses a variety of other organisations.
Murray Wilson, Operations Manager at Project Ability, commented: “We have been trying to raise money to buy a defibrillator for several years because we know how crucial it can be for those suffering a heart attack. While we hope this will not be needed it is reassuring for everyone in the locality to know we have it ready for an emergency.”
Photo left to right: Community Council Chair Tam Coyle, Secretary and Vice-Chair Scott Thornton, Murray Wilson and Community Council members Alice Wamaithaa Cowan and David Cowan.