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. 

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Road Restrictions - Merchant City Festival (27 - 31 July)

The following restrictions will be in operation for the Merchant City Festival.

Roads affected and dates and times of restriction applying to all vehicles with the exception of an emergency service vehicle carrying out an emergency response or vehicles given permission from Glasgow City Council filming and events section.

PROHIBITION OF VEHICLE MOVEMENTS

06:00hrs on the 28 July 2022 until 13:00hrs on the 1 August 2022

Brunswick Street between Wilson Street and Trongate

PROHIBITION OF VEHICLE MOVEMENTS
06:00hrs on the 28 July 2022 until 23:59hrs on the 31 July 2022

Bell Street between Candleriggs and Albion Street
Brunswick Street for its full length
Candleriggs for its full length
Garth Street for its full length – local access to resident parking
Hutcheson Street for its full length
Wilson Street between Glassford Street Candleriggs

06:00hrs on the 30 July 2022 until 23:59hrs on the 31 July 2022

Albion Street between Blackfriars Street and Trongate – local access to Q-Park
Bell Street between Albion Street and Walls Street

PROHIBITION OF WAITING AND LOADING OR UNLOADING
15:00hrs on the 27 July 2022 until 13:00hrs on the 1 August 2022

Brunswick Street between Wilson Street and Trongate

PROHIBITION OF WAITING AND LOADING OR UNLOADING
15:00hrs on the 27 July 2022 until 23:59hrs on the 31 July 2022

Bell Street between Candleriggs and Albion Street
Brunswick Street South of Wilson Street
Candleriggs for its full length
Garth Street for its full length
Hutcheson Street for its full length
Hutcheson Street for its full length
Wilson Street between Glassford Street Candleriggs

PROHIBITION OF WAITING AND LOADING OR UNLOADING
15:00hrs on the 29 July 2022 until 23:59hrs on the 31 July 2022

Albion Street between Blackfriars Street and Trongate – local access to Q-Park
Bell Street between Albion Street and Walls Street

SUSPENSION OF BUS LANE
04:00hrs on the 27 July 2022 until 23:59hrs on the 31 July 2022

LW0138 - Glassford Street, northbound.

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Meeting Minutes, 26 April 2022

Approved at our meeting on 31 May 2022.

1. Welcome

Tam Coyle welcomed everyone to our first in-person meeting in two years, and our first hybrid meeting

2. Attendance and Apologies

2.1. Community Councillors

Tam Coyle, Niall McColl, David Cowan, Scott Thornton, Gary Atkinson, Daniel O’Malley, Peter Hayman, Eileen Mills;

2.2. Residents

AL, TM, AC, SD, BC, TD, RH, PP, EM, RW

2.3. Elected Representatives

Lord Provost Phillip Braat, Deputy Lord Provost Christy Mearns, Cllr Eva Bolander, Cllr Angus Millar

2.4. Ex-Officio

Rob Wilson - Police Scotland; Clive Wilding, Conor Pittman, Gary Stodart, Teri Porter - Artisan

2.5. Apologies

None

3. Artisan Real Estate, 65-97 Ingram St

3.1 Presentation - Clive Wilding, Conor Pitman, Gary Stodart

  • https://65-97ingramstreet.co.uk
  • Approximately 1200 people have taken part in the consultation
  • Presented to planning officers. PAN period complete, but planning application not submitted – in final stages of preparation for submitting application in mid-May.
  • Focusing on the garden development of the site for this presentation
  • Pend entrance from Ingram St – now 4 separate entrances to the development
  • Ground floor is retail/commercial; highly glazed – will be able to use the courtyard
  • Roof view – Todd building will look down on to the development.
    • Mostly communal space
    • 3 bed flats have own outside space
  • Massing - stepping up to 7 storey bookends at east and west end of the development; maintaining heights on Albion St and Candleriggs
  • Landscape and urban context
    • Courtyard will be a key space as part of Merchant City art trail
    • Trying to take a holistic viewpoint of the development – trying to integrate artwork and garden into the design from the start
    • Courtyard, balconies and roof space contribute to the ecology and diversity of the area
    • Acknowledge that trees are present on site – new trees will be planted
    • Total area of existing vegetation – 648m2
    • Total area of planned biodiverse planting – 1163m2:
      • Ground Floor courtyard – 144m2
      • Communal Terraces and roof – 979m2
      • Balconies 40m2
    • Higher biodiversity value than current site
    • There will be still hard, usable public space
    • Solution has to be robust for Glasgow’s climate
      • Courtyard will be fully accessible to residents and general public
      • Looking at doing something “different” to make the space “sing” with planting and layout, with biodiversity value

3.2. Questions

Tam Coyle – can we have a copy of the presentation. Artisan will send link to the website

  • How much of the mural will be saved and will be seen? MCTCC commissioned the mural and selected the design
    • The building returns will obscure outer parts of the mural
    • There will be new artwork on the left hand side
    • Length of courtyard is longer than two tennis courts, and depth is more than one

Carla Arrighi – who will pay for the maintenance of the mural

  • Glasgow City Council own the wall the mural is painted on
  • Residents will own the courtyard, but factors will manage it – still working out details
  • There will be a public right of way during normal hours, but will be closed at night

Christy Mearns – are you conscious of loss of amenity to the public realm through the loss of existing trees.

  • They did look at this in some detail, including putting trees in the street – however lots of utilities running along the pavement, making it very difficult to put trees there
  • Looking at maximising the trees within the courtyard – design isn’t finalised yet

Scott Thornton – biodiversity. Seems to be mostly on the upper floors. There’s a need to bring families back into the centre of Glasgow, but how many of the apartments will be 1-bed, as that’s not a family apartment?

  • 13-14%; 18% will be 3 bed, the remainder will be 2-bed

Eileen Mills – who’s going to lock and unlock the gates to the courtyard?

  • This will be the responsibility of the factors/estate manager
  • Are the roofs all flat, with greenery? They are flat roofs, as they are gardens. From environmental impact, stalled water – SEPA are pushing for developments to handle water management through the building to feed the gardens
    • The greening is all “in the sky”, so not much to be seen by the public. Can’t really compare what is there now with what will be there in the future
    • Communal access for residents to gardens

Christy Mearns – are potential owners aware of the expense burden attached to opening the gates being opened and closed? Also, proposed building materials don’t fit in with the heritage of the conservation area.

  • As part of the application there will be an accessibility strategy

PP – Community fought hard for the mural, but if the development goes ahead, the residents will be the main beneficiaries of the mural, as public won’t be able to see mural in the way they do just now.

  • None of the views show the trees
  • Todd Building and Ramshorn Kirk are taller, but the proposal seems to be taller than all the other buildings on the south side of Ingram St
    • It is unashamedly modern architecture; low/zero carbon, low energy
    • Building materials have been reviewed and updated several times in discussion with planning officers.

TD – when will the build start. Hope to be on site early 2023. 2 year build

4. Minutes of Last Meeting (29 March 2022)

4.1. Update on Action Points

Item Action by Update
1 Report back on meeting with Mairi Miller re Connolly’s bar, and speak to her re coffee shop on Candleriggs Christy Mearns Coffee shop on Candleriggs still serving food and BYOB.  TC has written to the planning officer.Connolly’s – ongoing issue.
2 Follow up on Candleriggs TRO re pedestrianisation south of Bell St Christy Mearns Not being enforced due to the Candleriggs development – access required at all times of the day. Once development complete, a more restrictive TRO will be put in place
3 Contact David Cowan re experiences with recent filming Angus Millar David is out of the country – Angus will contact David by email
TC – still want to know who in GCC agreed to loud explosions at 1am during recent filming – we were told by the film office that permission was granted.Christy is surprised to hear that; Angus agreed that councillors were not informed
4 Confirm arrangements re use of City Chambers, including ventilation and streaming facilities Phillip Braat Not much ventilation, and wifi is poor. We will continue to follow up – windows do open, but it’s the full window.
5 (Feb) Confirm how many staff directly involved in graffiti removal with Denise Hamilton Tam Coyle Carried to next meeting
6 (Feb)Discuss possibility of having street art on lampposts Tam Coyle and PP Carried to next meeting
7 Impact of demolition of Annie Miller’s pub on local residents Eva Bolander Missed from previous meeting. When the work takes place, there will be a lot of mess. To be discussed once work starts

4.2 Corrections to minutes of last meeting

No changes were requested.

4.3. Approval

Proposed by:  Daniel O’Malley
Seconded by: Carla Arrighi

5. Matters Arising

None raised

6. Police Report (Rob Wilson and Stephen Clark)

6.1. Report

6.1.1. St Enoch Square

  • Still problems with anti-social behaviour
  • Currently running the Safer Glasgow City Centre Policing Plan
  • Traditionally for the night-time economy, but focussing on an earlier start to the programme to tackle anti-social behaviour.
  • Great engagement from Safer Communities team over the last few weeks, and youth engagement team

6.1.2 Connolly’s bar

  • Not in a position to say anything at present, other than there is on-going engagement via a couple of partners

6.1.3. Candleriggs Traffic Enforcement

  • Good number of tickets issued – mixture of residents and visitors

6.2. Questions

  • PP – observation - will the lack of parking in the new development lead to more illegal parking?
  • ST – Anti-social behaviour is not restricted to St Enoch. How many CCTV cameras are functioning in Glasgow?
    • 98% of publicly managed ones, on average
    • Private CCTV cameras are harder to monitor, especially in lanes
  • GA – Is there a plan for the upcoming football matches?
    • There is a robust policing plan in place for all matches.

7. Treasurer’s Report (Carla)

  • Still working on getting access to the account. Taking a lot longer due to banking bureaucracy.

8. Elected Members Reports

Lord Provost Braat had left the meeting due to illness.

8.1. Deputy Lord Provost Christy Mearns

8.1.1. Car parking on open ground at Albion St

  • Fencing to be installed round the ground

8.1.2. Ramshorn Graveyard

  • Property is owned by City Property, who don’t have the staff to open the gates
  • Consideration should be given to moving it from City Property to Council ownership
  • There are dilapidations to resolve but these don’t prevent the park from re-opening

8.1.3. Parking

  • 628 fines since end of March to 26 April

8.1.4. Parklets

  • Following up on process for process for progressing proposals

8.2. Cllr Eva Bolander

8.2.1. Merchant City Festival

  • Dates confirmed as Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 July
  • Will be invited to give presentation at next meeting
  • MCF want to use Ramshorn for one of their events

8.2.2 High St Tenements

  • Planning application submitted for some of them

8.2.3. St Enoch Planning Application

  • Last date for comments is 29 May 2022 (updated)

8.2.4. Buskers

  • Complaints have restarted about loud buskers in the city centre. Will be taken up with officers

8.2.5. Green Spaces

  • South of Trongate could be part of greening plan

8.3. Cllr Angus Millar

8.3.1. Parking

  • Enforcement taking place
  • Inquiries from businesses due to lack of loading facilities
  • Has asked council to engage with businesses for a more permanent solution

8.3.2. St Enoch

  • Planning application includes student accommodation as one of the options, which is something that will be commented on.

9. Planning (Peter Hayman)

  • Peter shared the list of applications, including the redevelopment of St Enoch – 22/00817/PPP

10. Licencing (Tam Coyle)

  • No time for update

11. Merchant City Park (Eileen and Peter)

  • No time for update

12. Social Media (Niall McColl)

  • No time for update

13. Local Issues (all)

13.1. Planters in Merchant City

  • Eileen Mills – planters in the area are not suitable. Question for the hustings event.

14. AOCB

14.1. Hustings

  • Reminder that hustings will take place on Thursday 28th at 7pm via Zoom

15. Date of next meeting

Tuesday 31st May 2022 at 7pm – City Chambers and online via Zoom

16. Action Points

  1. Report back on meeting with Mairi Miller re Connolly’s bar, and speak to her re coffee shop on Candleriggs (Christy Mearns)
  2. Confirm arrangements re use of City Chambers, including ventilation and streaming facilities (Phillip Braat)
  3. Confirm how many staff directly involved in graffiti removal with Denise Hamilton(Tam Coyle)
  4. Discuss possibility of having street art on lampposts (Tam Coyle and PP)

MCTCC/meetings/2022

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Meeting Minutes, 25 January 2022

1. Welcome

Tam Coyle welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. Attendance and Apologies

2.1.Community Councillors

Tam Coyle (V/C), David Cowan (Secretary), Peter Hayman, Eileen Mills, Gary Atkinson, Carla Arrighi, Niall McColl and Scott Thornton.

2.2.Residents

FC, AL, PP, GW, NR, OG,TD, EM

2.3.Elected Representatives

Lord Provost Philip Braat, Deputy Lord Provost Christy Mearns, Cllr Eva Bolander, Cllr Angus Millar

2.4.Ex-officio

Constables Rob Wilson and Stephen Clark- Police Scotland,

3. Minutes of Last Meeting (30 November 2021)

3.1.Update on Action Points

  1. Report back on meeting with Mairi Miller re Connolly’s bar (Christy Mearns) - Still in progress
  2. Follow up re Ramshorn (Tam Coyle) - Still in progress
  3. Raise Connolly’s bar issues with Mairi Miller (Tam Coyle & Christy Mearns) - Still in progress
  4. Report noise issues to Council team and police (All) - Done
  5. Follow up on Annie Millers’ pub licence withdrawal (Eva Bolander) - No update
  6. Update on progress of Waterfront development (All councillors) - See update below
  7. Follow up re missing statue on John St (Christy Mearns & Carla Arrighi) - Statue reinstated

3.2.Corrections to minutes of last meeting

No changes were requested.

3.3.Approval

Proposed by: Carla Arrighi
Seconded by: David Cowan

4. Matters Arising

4.1.New Office Bearers and representatives

  • Chair (and Merchant City Festival Rep): Tam Coyle
  • Vice-Chair (and Social Media Manager): Niall McColl
  • Secretary: David Cowan
  • Treasurer: Carla Arrighi
  • Area Partnership Representative: Gary Atkinson
  • North-West Partnership and Media Spokesperson: Scott Thornton
  • Merchant City Park: Eileen Mills
  • Planning: Peter Hayman
    All will serve until our 2022 AGM

4.2.School Consultation

The proposed school has been withdrawn after conclusion of the consultation.

5. Police Report (Rob Wilson and Stephen Clark)

5.1.Report

  • Busier over Festive period, but no incidents of note.
  • Drug users in Glassford Court set fire to bin store which filled building with smoke; Police will follow up with Tam and FC
  • Avant Garde issue on 31 December – No comment from Police.

5.2.Questions raised

  • TD – Garth Street traffic and obstructive parking – Police will follow up
  • PP – Graffiti “tagging” on Herald Building – Police will liaise with Council officers; likely to be the factors that have to get it cleaned as private property
  • NR – Candleriggs Parking and driving on pavements ; Police did move on vehicles in December and will continue to do so

6. Treasurer’s Report (Carla)

Getting things sorted out but takes time

7.Elected Members Reports

7.1.Cllr Eva Bolander

  • Filming in City Centre – reaction has been generally positive. Any issues raised will be passed to Film Office
  • Planning Enforcement charter being reviewed; lays out what they can and cannot deal with. Copy will be sent to the Community Council.
  • Short-term lets legislation moving forward; Council licencing scheme to be in place by October 2022
  • Ramshorn – still trying to get friends group going (volunteers welcome) – interest from various organisations keen to see it started; will be linked with Necropolis and Southern Necropolis groups. TC met with Friends of Garnethill Green Spaces (FROGGS)
  • Cladding – ongoing discussions with Kaukab Stewart MSP; no direct feedback on what’s happening
  • Virginia Place – issue of commercial waste has been raised again; planning application for bin shed on pavement – see 8.1.3 under planning

7.2.Deputy Lord Provost Christy Mearns

  • Candleriggs – TRO published to remove pedestrianisation south of Bell St; Christy will follow up and feedback
  • Repainting of faded road markings
  • Connolly’s bar – complaints have reduced, but that may be due to recent restrictions; noise control will investigate further if they restart.
  • Ingram St car park – Proposal of Application Notice has been submitted;
  • Online Consultation from 8 February to early April
  • https://www.65-97ingramsgtreet.co.uk
    * Event in Merchant Square on 9 February, book appointment via Eventbrite

    • Citation – variation of licence to serve alcohol outdoors
      • NM reported noise problems over festive period, which were raised with noise control team
      • Application for outdoor seating was withdrawn last year

7.3.Lord Provost Philip Braat

  • Sewer work on Ingram St – has written to Scottish Water to ensure road surface reinstated properly
  • Refuse collection – should be largely back to normal
  • Recycling bins at 103 Hutcheson St not emptied since installation in October; PB will investigate

7.4.Cllr Angus Millar

  • Filming – Glasgow seen as a good location
    • £42 million benefit to the local economy since 2021, but not much seems to be coming to the impacted areas
    • Will reach out to DC to discuss experiences with filming
  • Waterfront – work carried out late November and December was technical groundwork investigation
  • Old Wynd and surrounding streets – has requested that the very poor lighting be upgraded

7.5.Questions

  • ST > Any update on Borderland; DC – not as yet
  • DC – roads were cleaned after filming, but not the pavements; Eva will follow up
  • EM – Adjustment to “Open Daily” notice at Ramshorn – Eva will follow up
  • TC – when will we be able to access City Chambers again?
    • PB has call with business team on 26/1, will update at future meeting
    • EM – how are the meeting rooms configured for ventilation? PB will check but thinks its opening windows
  • DC – what facilities are there for livestreaming meetings? A couple of meeting rooms have been configured to allow council meetings to be livestreamed, but probably won’t be available to MCTCC. Anderston CC are conducting hybrid meetings – NM will write to them to ask how they’re doing it
  • ST – any update on delay in mandatory introduction of interlinked smoke/fire alarms
    • Can be followed up with Kaukab
    • AM – requirement to have them fitted hasn’t changed, nor the implementation date, but initially no penalties will be applied
  • PH – recent metro announcement, will there still be a tunnel connecting Queen St and Central, and is Crossrail still part of it?
    • AM – detail still to be worked out
  • NR – Coffee shop on Candleriggs was originally 9am – 5pm, now opening till 9pm Fridays with BYOB.
    • TC will follow up with Mairi Miller
  • NR – businesses not cleaning the spaces that have been made available for them, and street furniture hasn’t been cleaned in many years
    • AM will raise with officials

8. Planning (Peter Hayman)

8.1. New Applications

8.1.1.Redevelopment of 65-97 Ingram St by Artisan

  • Proposal of Application notice lodged.
  • Online consultation from 8 February to early April
  • Online chat on afternoon of 8 February; in person sessions in Merchant Square on 9 February – prebooking required
  • Website: https://65-97ingramstreet.co.uk

8.1.2.Howard St use of retail unit as hot food takeaway (21/03868/FUL)

  • Change to building from barbershop to hot food takeaway
  • Proposal would require installation of flue on outside of building
  • This is inside the conservation zone, and in a listed building
  • Last date for comments: 11 February 2022

8.1.3.Use of pavement as bin storage area, Virginia Place (21/03656/FUL)

  • Need to see detail of this
  • Last date for comments 14 February 2022

8.1.4.Erection of rear and rooftop extensions to Former Lewis’s building (21/03594/FUL and 21/03595/LBA)

  • Lodged on 25 January
  • Last date for comments: 11 February 2022

9. Licencing (Tam Coyle)

  • Tesco in Ingram St is now Sainsbury; application to sell alcohol had to be resubmitted
  • Application from Citation -mentioned above

10.Merchant City Park (Eileen and Peter)

  • Artisan keen to speak to the community
  • Eileen has received correspondence, but MCP have declined to speak with them
  • In terms of fundraising, EM pointed out that its difficult to raise funds when you don’t own the property.

11.Local Issues (all)

11.1.Condition of streets

  • Streets are slippery and unkempt
  • Bins are being left outside Merchant Square at all hours
  • Councillors to follow up

11.2.Lack of green space

  • Other than proposed MCP, only site in our patch is Deans Well Garden
  • JR – how many green spaces have the council added in MCTCC area?
  • CM – there was funding made available for pop-up parks via Area Partnership, still live
  • EB – none that she’s aware of, but improvements made at Rottenrow and Cathedral St, plus stalled space at Greyfriars Garden

12. Social Media (Niall McColl)

  • No report due to lack of time

13.AOCB

13.1.Hustings

Our April meeting is planned to be a hustings event for the Council elections taking place in May.

14. Date of next meeting

Tuesday 22nd February 2022 at 7pm

15.Action Points

  1. Report back on meeting with Mairi Miller re Connolly’s bar, and speak to her re coffee shop on Candleriggs (Christy Mearns)
  2. Provide copy of Planning Enforcement Charter (Eva Bolander)
  3. Follow up on Candleriggs TRO re pedestrianisation south of Bell St (Christy Mearns)
  4. Contact David Cowan re experiences with recent filming (Angus Millar)
  5. Follow up on recycling collections from 103 Hutcheson St (Phillip Braat)
  6. Follow up on graffiti tagging on Albion St (Phillip Braat)
  7. Arrange for “Open daily” notice at Ramshorn to be corrected (Eva Bolander)
  8. Confirm arrangements re use of City Chambers, including ventilation and streaming facilities (Phillip Braat)
  9. Write to Anderston CC re hybrid meetings (Niall McColl)

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