Get Involved in 2024
We are YOUR community council, here to represent YOUR interests. Our monthly meetings are informative, interactive and cover a lot of ground. Why not come along to the City Chambers at 6.30pm on Tuesday 30th January to find out more and join our Community Council Meeting – January 2024. We'd love for you to come along to see what we do, and to get involved with us in 2024.
Website and Email
Our website, social media and email will not be monitored between Friday 1st and Sunday 10th December due to holidays. Any messages will be responded to thereafter.
Privacy and Social Media Policy Updates
Our Privacy Policy was updated as follows
Online Services
- Removed references to Microsoft Office and Microsoft Teams
- Added reference to Zoom and Airtable
- Renamed SendinBlue as Brevo, to correspond with their recent name change
Contact Forms
- Added reference to social media
General review and tidy up of language used.
Our Social Media Policy was updated as follows:
- Added recent social media sites
The new policies are effective from 1 August 2023.
Community Council Elections 2023
Nominations are invited from residents who are 16 years or over to join Merchant City & Trongate Community Council
1. Qualification
Anyone over 16 years of age who resides within the Community Council boundary area can stand for election. All that is required is that the candidate, proposer and seconders’ names appear on the Electoral Register.
For those whose names do not appear on the Electoral Register, an alternative means of doing this is available by contacting the named officer below.
2. Vacancies
There are 11 vacancies being advertised for Merchant City & Trongate Community Council.
3. Closing Date
Completed nomination forms must be submitted to Glasgow City Council (see below) by Friday, 8th September 2023.
4. Filling Vacancies
- Uncontested Election Meeting:
Should 11 or less nominations be submitted to Glasgow City Council, the valid candidates will be elected unopposed on Tuesday, 31st October 2023 at 6:30pm in Committee Room, Glasgow City Chambers 64 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, G2 1DU.
- Contested Election – Secret Ballot:
Should more than 11 valid nominations be submitted to Glasgow City Council by Friday, 8th September 2023, a secret ballot will take place on a date to be confirmed in Committee Room, Glasgow City Chambers 64 Cochrane Street, Glasgow, G2 1DU.
Qualifying residents* will be entitled to cast up to 11 votes during the ballot opening hours 5.30pm – 8.30pm. A list of candidates will be publicly advertised before the secret ballot. The results of the secret ballot will be confirmed at the next scheduled meeting of the community council.
To vote at a Community Council election, residents’ names and addresses must appear on the Electoral Register or be confirmed using the alternative measures (see clause 1. Qualification above).
Nomination forms can be requested from the Returning Officer (below) or by clicking here (Nomination form download).
Mary McPhail (Independent Returning Officer)
Community Empowerment Services
Glasgow City Council
City Chambers
82 George Square
Glasgow G2 1DU
Tel. 0141 287 0060
Useful Contacts
| Issue | Contact | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|
| Roads Faults/Flooding | RALF | https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/ralf 0900 37 36 35 |
| Fly Tipping & Fly Posting | Glasgow City Council (GCC) | My Glasgow App https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=20044 0141 287 1058 |
| Litter | GCC | My Glasgow App https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=20044 0141 287 1058 |
| Roads Issues | GCC/Amey | RALF My Glasgow App https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=20044. For emergencies call 0800 373635. Motorway/trunk roads call 0800 0281414 |
| Road/Footpath sewage issues | Scottish Water | 0800 0778 778 |
| Lighting | GCC | My Glasgow App https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=20044 or 0800 373635. |
| Bulk Uplift | GCC | 0141 287 9700 |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | Polic Scotland | 101 |
| Pest Control | GCC | 0141 287 1059 |
| Graffiti | GCC | My Glasgow App https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=20044 |
| RSVP | Simon Community | 0141 552 4164 or 0800 027 7466 |
Community Grants
MCTCC's grant giving scheme, launched at our April meeting, channels donations that we have received from film and TV productions into community environment projects. The scheme is open to charities, not for profit organisations and social enterprises based in our area. Applications for the first round of funding are now open, and will close on 31 July 2023.
More details, including the application form, are available from our Grants page.
Robin Jones, Community Councillor
All involved with the Community Council were saddened to hear of the recent death of Robin Jones, who served as a Community Councillor for many years. Our thoughts are with his family.
Glasgow City Council's Decision re 65-97 Ingram St
Residents have reacted furiously to Glasgow Council’s decision to destroy what they claim is the final opportunity for a community park in the city’s heart.
On the casting vote of its Chairman, the Council’s Planning Applications Committee (PAC) voted after a three hour public hearing to agree planning officers’ recommendation of approval for a seven storey building of 109 apartments on the site. This is currently a car park opposite the historic ‘A’ Listed Ramshorn Church.
Almost half the 14 members of the Committee failed to turn up for the hearing, described by Merchant City and Trongate Community Council (MCTCC) as the most important event for local residents in the past 20 years and the culmination of its four year fight for the area’s first green space.
The decision means 21 horse chestnut and cherry trees will be felled. The site, sold by the Council to its own arms length property company, is also home to the world famous mural ‘Fellow Glasgow Residents,’ showing a variety of wild animals and birds peeking through what appear to be holes in a wall.
Tam Coyle, Chair of MCTCC which was one of 143 objectors, commented: “We are devastated and angry at the outcome. It’s ironic since Glasgow was host of the COP 26 UN Climate Change Summit and its leaders have regularly spoken about how determined they are to boost the greening of the city.”
He added: “It has now ruined the last remaining opportunity for a community park in the very heart of the city. No other site is available.”
An acoustics expert told the hearing that residents of the new flats would have legitimate grounds for complaint about noise from the adjacent City Halls and Old Fruitmarket entertainment complexes which host well over 200 events a year and that this could put their continued existence in doubt.
Depute Lord Provost Christy Mearns commented: “I’m bitterly disappointed that Councillors have voted to obliterate the last available open space in Merchant City and putting world-renowned music venues under significant threat of closure.”
She went on: “Unfortunately there is now no chance of ever creating a park here, despite the area crying out for it. The Council says it wants to encourage families and children to live in the city centre yet there is nowhere for them to play or gather. We need new homes but these should be prioritised in appropriate locations”.
Mr Coyle noted that Glasgow had recently come 68th and last in a survey of the greenest cities in Britain carried out by university scientists from England and Australia.
The PAC’s vote was 3-3 but carried on the casting vote of Councillor Ken Andrew (SNP Hillhead).
Mr Coyle commented: “This decision, waved through on the casting vote of one person, is a travesty. It sends absolutely the wrong signal about Glasgow Council’s long repeated mantra of wanting a greener environment for its citizens.”
Other objectors said the proposed development was out of context with existing buildings and hide views of the Ramshorn which dates back to 1720, and add to already serious traffic problems in the area, especially since the proposal had no provision for parking spaces.
Local resident David Hughes told the hearing that Merchant City was the only part of the city centre without a green space and that a park would boost the community’s health and well being,