These minutes will be submitted for approval at our meeting on 30 November 2021

1. Welcome

Duncan MacLaren welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. Attendance and Apologies

2.1. Community Councillors

Duncan MacLaren (Chair), Tam Coyle (V/C), David Cowan (Secretary), Peter Hayman, Gerald Hirst (Treasurer), Eileen Mills, Daniel O’Malley and Scott Thornton.

2.2. Residents

EM, AL, GA, CA, OG, TD, MO, PP

2.3. Elected Representatives

Lord Provost Philip Braat (for part of meeting), Cllr Eva Bolander

2.4. Apologies

Niall McColl, Robin Jones, Depute Lord Provost Christy Mearns, Cllr Angus Millar and Sgt. Philip Showell (Police Scotland).

3. Minutes of Last Meeting (28 September 2021)

3.1. Update on Action Points

No.	Item	Action by	Update
1	Raise the matter of repeating eight week licensing applications with the Licensing Committee for redress and to consider if these are undermining authority and notify MCTCC of other streets with similar application types	Depute Lord Provost Mearns	No update
2	Post the Android and Apple app links on the MCTCC website for reporting issues of litter etc. with the Council	Niall McColl	Done
3	Investigate other ways of fighting against the decision to approve the planning application for the future of the former Annie Millar’s pub	Cllr Bolander	See Cllr Bolander’s report below
4	Email the Chair regarding walking surveys with members of MCTCC	Cllr Millar	No update
5	Raise the issue of parking on pavements once more with the police and Council	Cllrs Bolander and Millar
6	Make enquiries about the Jocelyn Square development and give feedback to the next MCTCC meeting	Cllr Millar
7	To discover why sections of the Ingram Street car park was being resurfaced and who authorised this resurfacing	Cllr Bolander	Eileen Mills received a response:Work was arranged by NCP, not City PropertyNCP has the right to do so in terms of the leasePaid for by NCPNo answer why it was being done now, after decades of poor surfacing, especially as site has been sold
8	Put the ‘Friends of the Ramshorn Group’ on the agenda of the mid-monthly meeting	Duncan MacLaren	Done

3.2. Corrections to minutes of last meeting

Item 11 – Ramshorn section needs to be updated – David Cowan to email Eileen Mills and Niall McColl with the corrected text.

3.3. Approval

Proposed by: Peter Hayman

Seconded by: AL

4. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising from the last meeting.

5. Treasurer’s Report (Gerald Hirst)

Report provided during AGM.

6. Police Report (Tam Coyle in Sgt Showell’s absence)

6.1. Report

Sgt Showell on COP duties for next 3 weeks
One email sent re security concerns at Sheriff Court Building
Reminder to all – any issues to be raised with the police, send to Tam
Police are investigating late night noise at Connelly’s and Grace’s bars; Licensing board are also aware

6.2. Questions to be forwarded to the Police

6.2.1. TD

Deliveroo cyclists on pavements
Cyclists going wrong way up Albion St
Private Hire Taxis using John St from Cochrane St to Ingram St as a shortcut
Comments echoed by Carla and LP
Lord Provost Braat has also seen taxis doing this, and is making inquiries but no response
Lord Provost Braat – Delivery cyclists becoming a bigger problem

6.2.2. Eileen Mills

Other Community Councils still getting statistics
Tam Coyle will raise again with the police, but our boundary doesn’t overlap Police division boundary, so required manual work to analyse

7. Elected Members Reports

7.1. Cllr Eva Bolander

7.1.1. Clyde Regeneration and St Enoch Regeneration

Should interlink in some way, and need to consider connectivity with the Avenues
Regeneration Framework gives broad guidelines for things developers should consider

7.1.2. Crossrail

Superseded by Glasgow Metro system

7.1.3. Jocelyn Square

No further planning proposals received
Eva will check with Cllr Millar in case he has found anything further

7.1.4. Walkabouts

Took place with Cllr Millar two weeks ago, with the new liaison officer
On that day at least, some pockets of litter, as well as drug paraphernalia, but nothing exceptional

7.1.5. Ropework Lane

No redress for third parties once planning application has been approved
Only way to change outcome is via judicial review, and then only if something was handled incorrectly
Costly process, not easy to do as a layman
Planning Democracy organisation can be helpful
Tam Coyle -Challenged about the distance between buildings – application said 22meters, but distance was 7 meters
- – Depends on how its measured
Scott Thornton response
- No longer a member of the Carrick Quay management committee
- Passed information on Planning Democracy to the management committee to follow up

7.1.6. Funding for greening

Funding available for a pocket park in the Merchant City and Trongate area
Duncan MacLaren recommends Eileen Mills, Peter Hayman or both from MCP should be the representative
Eileen Mills declined to be involved in an alternative to the Ingram St Car Park pocket park proposal
Peter Hayman and Cllr Bolander will discuss.

7.1.7. Pedestrianing Merchant City

Officials will take the plan on board and see how it can be implemented
With the climate emergency, making a more pedestrian based city and diminishing car use within the city centre

7.1.8. Ramshorn Graveyard

Open for COP26 during daytime hours – 9.45am to 4pm
Some work needs to be done to freshen up the seating etc
Glasgow Heritage Trust and Glasgow Building Preservation Trust keen to see a Friends group being established
Meeting to be arranged after COP

7.2. Questions

7.2.1. Eileen Mills

Why is it possible to open Ramshorn for COP, but not generally? If its not going to remain open beyond COP, should the signage saying “Open daily” not be removed?

Cllr Bolander Response

COP has provided some funding to allow it to open, though Cllr Bolander not aware of which organisation is paying for it
Cllr Bolander agreed that it should be possible to remove the sign
Has been closed partly due to the extent of the dilapidations process – restores the graveyard back to the condition it was in before the lease
Strathclyde University wanted to terminate the lease of the graveyard

7.2.2. Daniel O’Malley

Council has taken opportunity to fix a lot of things for Glasgow due to COP, but only for two weeks. Why is this, and why are they not being carried on?

Cllr Bolander’s Response

The integrated travel system is being paid for by the host government (UK and UN)
Glasgow City Council are not in charge of transport for Glasgow
SPT is not part of GCC, though some councillors do sit on its board

8. Planning (Peter Hayman)

8.1. New Applications

Nothing controversial on the official list.
First application date for St Enoch will be end of November 2021 at the earliest.

8.2. Other Developments

8.2.1. High St Goods Yard

Face to face consultation on High St Goods Yard 27/10/21
Outside our area, but impacts Crossrail, which was previously supported by MCTCC
Site will be “Car reduced”
Question from Tam – how much will reinstating crossrail cost? Not information that Peter has, but will raise at the face to face.

8.2.2. ‘Mon the High St

Peter spoke with Juliette from the project
Very encouraging discussion
Poorly attended
Open again 27/10/21 at 19 Saltmarket

8.2.3. George Square Changes

TRO email received
North Side – buses, taxis and cycles from 7am – 7pm
East and West side – cyclists only

8.2.4. Pedestrianising parts of Merchant City

Meeting arranged by Cllr Millar with GCC representative
Well received by our councillors
Can’t use Temporary TRO for this purpose, as has been withdrawn by UK Government

8.3. Questions

8.3.1. Scott Thornton

Raised issue of how these projects get their name
‘Mon the High St was covered in the Glasgow Times
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/19667373.glasgow-high-street-plan-criticised-business-owners/

Response from Cllr Bolander

High Street Reference Group has been running since 2017
A lot of work done in the background
A lot of the issues are historic – street is split between 3 wards, which is very obvious
Heritage aspect is of major importance – Heritage banners were in place for a time in 2021
Historical plaques installed in 2021
Event in Saltmarket is heritage driven but is consulting more widely
Online consultation – http://highstreetheritage.scot
Update from Reference Group on 27/10/21, so further update next month
Peter Hayman made point that upper part of High St is plagued with traffic that regularly exceeds the 20mph limit
Missed opportunity to increase cycling infrastructure and reduce traffic speeds during lockdown.

8.3.2. Scott Thornton

Can the boundaries of the CCs not be redrawn so that High St falls under one rather than 3 (MCTCC, Townhead, and Calton (Inactive)
Yes, but would have to be done through Democratic Services,. and accepted by other CCs

8.3.3. Gary Atkinson

Clydeside regeneration, St Enoch projects. No joined-up thinking
Andrew Lockyer did visit the Clyde regeneration event in the Briggait, by then they were aware of St Enoch redevelopment

9. Licencing (Tam Coyle)

9.1. New Applications

Market at St Enoch from 25/11 – 23/12
Metropolitan – Merchant Square Hogmany
Marketplace Europe – George Square 25/11 – 30/12 (now withdrawn)

9.2. Questions

9.2.1. TD

Any planning application submitted for new signage at Brewdog – none that we’re aware of

10. Friends of Ramshorn

Some residents interested in being part of the steering group
Will arrange to speak with Friends of the Necropolis and Southern Necropolis, and a meeting with Eva, once COP finished

11. Merchant City Park (Peter Hayman and Eileen Mills)

Were made aware of some grants related to active travel and environmental projects, but none that MCP are able to apply for
Miyawaki – wee forests, Glasgow has taken that up with a wee forest at Glasgow Green
Idea of using car park as a meeting place for COP didn’t come to fruition

12. Social Media (Niall McColl)

We’re almost at 100 followers on Twitter and 400 on Facebook.
Scott and Niall will be working on a plan to distribute the business leaflet and one for residents.

13. COP26

Duncan MacLaren is a delegate
Most discussion about road closures
Must remember what the purpose of the event is
CC must take the messages that come out of COP and apply it to our own work and persuade the Council to apply it more rigorously
Important that delegates hear the messages from the islands and developing countries most likely to be impacted

14. Local Issues (all)

14.1. MCTCC Community Fibre Partnership with British Telecom

Apply for grants towards installing fibre broadband
Could be installed by 2023 with these grants, or 2026 without
Currently, neither of the city centre exchanges (Bell and Central) have fibre
Hutchison St and Miller St (amongst others) have fibre via Hyperoptic
The process is, collect addresses, BT gives a quote for install, we apply for partnership funding. Please forward your flat and/or building address if you would like to be part of this: d-cowan@live.co.uk or info@mctcc.scot

14.2. Smart Meters

Challenges if the building doesn’t have good reception
AL were unable to have smart meters installed in another building
They connect via radio, not via the internet
They have specialised SIM cards installed so they can connect to any network
Eileen has also had problems getting a smart meter installed in her flat.

15. AOCB

15.1. Candleriggs Development

Peter Hayman noted that a new tower crane has been installed on the Candleriggs development site, but there’s no red light to signify its presence for helicopters.

Cllr Bolander will inquire.

16. Date of next meeting

Tuesday 30^th November 2021 at 7pm

17. Action Points

No.	Item	Action by
1	Raise the matter of repeating eight week licensing applications with the Licensing Committee for redress and to consider if these are undermining authority and notify MCTCC of other streets with similar application types	Depute Lord Provost Mearns
2	Raise the issue of parking on pavements once more with the police and Council	Cllrs Bolander and Millar
3	Make enquiries about the Jocelyn Square development and give feedback to the next MCTCC meeting	Cllr Millar
4	Incorporate Eileen Mills’ corrections to the September minutes in the final minutes and on the website	David Cowan, Niall McColl
5	Discussion re Funding for Greening	Cllr Bolander and Peter Hayman
6	Arrange meeting re Friends of Ramshorn (after COP)	Cllr Bolander and Duncan MacLaren
7	Check on regulations re lighting of tower cranes	Cllr Bolander
8	Raise cost of reinstating Crossrail at the High St Goods yard face to face	Peter Hayman
9	Arrange for removal of “open daily” signage from Ramshorn Graveyard	Cllr Bolander