Meeting Minutes, 29 June 2021

Online Conference through MS Teams
Tuesday 29th May, at 7pm

Attending

Community Councillors:Dr Duncan MacLaren (Chair), Tam Coyle (V/C), David Cowan (Secretary), Peter Hayman, Niall McColl (Social Media Manager), Gerald Hirst (Treasurer) Eileen Mills and Daniel O’Malley.
Residents: ST, EM, AP, PP and KM
Ex-Officio: Bernadette Fryars (Glasgow Life)
Elected Representatives: Councillor Angus Millar. 
 

1. Welcome by the Chair

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, especially Bernadette Fryars from Glasgow Life who came to give us an update on the Merchant City Festival.

2. Apologies

Received from: Lord Provost Philip Braat, Vice Provost Bailie Christy Mearns, Kaukab Stewart MSP, Cllr Eva Bolander, Sgt. Philip Showell and EO.

3. Minutes of the last meeting (25th May 2021)

The Chair will send some typos for fixing after the meeting. The minutes were proposed as a true representation of the meeting by Niall McColl and seconded by Daniel O’Malley.

4. Matters Arising not on the Agenda

Action Points:

  • Cllr Bolander to inform KM of date and time for the Annie Millar pub planning application so that he can be represented. It was noted that due to the summer recess, there are unlikely to be any hearings until mid-August.
  • Peter Hayman spoke with the Dhabba restaurant re. details of their marquee on the street and was assured that any mess will be cleared up, and seats will put out after 11am each day.
  • The Lord Provost has arranged a meeting with Eileen Mills and Peter Hayman.

5. Report from the Treasurer

Gerald Hirst reported that the MCTCC bank balance for 29th June is £1,610.13 Expenditure this month consisted of two items of £9.12 each for Microsoft 365 subscription.

6. Police Report

There was no police report this month.

7. Merchant City Festival Update

Bernadette Fryars of Glasgow Live gave a presentation.  The Festival will run from Thursday to Sunday, the 8th to the 11th July.  It is a smaller event than that of previous years and will be held in George Square, Merchant Square and Barrowland Park.  There will be a carnival procession from 4-8pm.  George Square events are from 11am to 6:30pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Barrowland Park events will be on the Saturday and Sunday from 12:30-5pm.  The Merchant City will have performances in, and around the surrounding streets; however, these events will be held after a dynamic risk assessment before each event. If the streets are too busy, the events will not go ahead. 

Events are seen as a key measure to bring people back into the city. The George Square and Barrowland Park events will ‘free ticketed’ and were available from yesterday. However, there is a low capacity.  There will be no food or market stalls. A map of the where the events will be staged was shown.

It was reported road closure notices have not been delivered to the streets affected. Bernadette Fryars will email the notice to several residents.  MCF have a designated Transport Manager. Please check for road closures, and new filming restrictions, at www.mctcc.scot .  

8. Councillors’ Reports

Councillor Angus Millar

Councillor Millar received a letter last week from Strathclyde University Estates Department regarding the opening of the Ramshorn Graveyard. This stated that their aim is to complete the Dilapidations process in the near future. This will allow for more community interest in the future of this prestigious landmark.

There was a briefing about the quay wall on the River Clyde, near to Custom House Quay, to explain the situation and have issued a tender for designs. They are keen to engage with community bodies.  Councillors also had a briefing with King Street car park developers who ensured good connectivity throughout the site for the public. It comprises shops on the ground level and residential apartments above. The site will be built in separate phases.

There will be a review of recycling and bin collection plans in a new resource and recycling strategy for the city centre which will take several years to complete. The Glasgow Low Emission Zone is coming into force soon, the final details of which are about to published.  It will start in June 2022, with a general one-year grace period to June 2024, and for city centre residents to June 2024. It can be accessed at https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/27143 .

A resident enquired about the frequency for recycling bins to be emptied, Cllr Millar confirmed this was 16 days. It was noted that the recycling bins for the Merchant City are based just outside of it, in Parsonage Square. It has an insufficient capacity causing a perpetual mess being left there, even after the bins are emptied.  Cllr Millar recognised this issue which has been raised before. The new strategy take account of this, but in the meantime he will enquire if bins can be emptied more frequently, this includes at Carrick Quay and The Herald Building.

David Cowan noted how a £2000 grant can be obtained from the Energy Saving Trust to scrap your car. It is understood it will only be available until March 2022.

A resident noted the increasing number of people who gather on the Clyde walkway, near to the suspension bridge, making it feel unsafe for walkers and cyclists. Cllr Millar confirmed that other residents have raised this issue with him and the police have attended on several occasions. However, it is understood a more comprehensive plan is required to solve this issue.

An email will be sent to all councillors regarding the discarding of drug paraphernalia at the basement levels of Brunswick St and Hutcheson St. It was noted that there is discarded debris including empty bottles of alcohol and assorted mess at the Clyde walkway and also within George Square, in particular after the Kindness charity, which distributes free meals to the homeless each evening, have left.

9. Planning Applications

There is a planning application for 27 Chisolm Street for a new restaurant.

10. Licensing Applications

Trades Hall, in Glassford Street, has applied for a licence to serve alcohol.

11. Merchant City Park Update

Peter Hayman discussed briefly GCC’s City Centre Strategic Development Framework 2050, plan which was finalised last month. He will present his findings from this at the July meeting, but noted that increasing green, child-friendly space is a key priority. This is in contrast to selling-off the land which could have become a park in Ingram Street.  It is available to read at: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=47396&p=0 .

Eileen Mills reported that Lord Provost’s secretary has emailed to arrange a meeting for this Friday 2nd July. The meeting will be held outside the City Chambers as it is closed for the summer recess. A membership form has been added to the MCP website. 

Tam asked who would the developer sue if GCC failed to deliver the site after missives have been signed? Members considered that missives are not exchanged subject to planning permission being approved under Scottish Law.

12. MCTCC Social Media

Niall McColl will give his report on the MCTCC Survey 2021 at the July meeting.  It is anticipated the poster design can be agreed upon.  Eileen Mills enquired about transcription software. MS Teams has this built in and a pilot test was carried out last month. David will review the file and feedback to Niall. The Facebook site has now over 300 followers.  

13. Addressing Local Issues

An inaugural meeting of Greyfriars Gardens SCIO will be held on the 29th July at 7pm, by Zoom. Contact Irene Graham if you wish to attend.

Peter Hayman will email Angus Millar to enquire if the food waste bins at the Todd Building can be cleaned.  It was reported that factors in some buildings have a contractor who cleans their food bins every four weeks or so. The Chair noted that the food waste bin at Parsonage Square is emptied often though the area is a mess. KM reported that the food bins at Carrick Quay had to be removed 9 months ago because it was not getting emptied.

14. AOCB

Scott Thornton should hopefully become an Associate Member of MCTCC by next meeting below.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting: 

Date of next meeting:

Tuesday 27th July, 2021 at 7pm**An MS Teams link will be circulated for registration.

Action Points

  1. Carrick Quay residents should contact Cllr Eva Bolander to ascertain the timing of the hearing about the demolition of the Annie Millar pub and the subsequent development of the site (KM)
  2. Bernadette Fryars will send those interested an email with details of MCF road closures (Bernadette Fryars)
  3. To ascertain whether the bins in Parsonage Square, Carrick Quay and the Herald Building can be emptied more frequently (Cllr Angus Millar).
  4. Residents affected by the disposal of drug paraphernalia at the basement level of the Old Sheriff Court building in Brunswick and Hutcheson Streets should send emails of the details to our four councillors (Niall McColl etc.)
  5. The Lord Provost is to meet Peter Hayman and Eileen Mills on 2nd July to discuss the MCP (Lord Provost, Peter and Eileen).
  6. Report on the survey to be given at the July MCTCC (Niall McColl)
  7. Review the use of the transcription software for the July meeting (David Cowan).