Category: Concerns and complaints (Page 1 of 3)

Parking Update

Cllr Ghani has passed on a communication from council officers on the enforcement of the ban on pavement parking. It clarfies the council’s current position very well.

Essentially they have divided Glasgow’s roads up into ones where they will enforce the ban, becasue there is no issue (e.g. Pollokshields Road, Titwood Road) and those where they will defer enforcement while further work is undertaken (e.g. most of Strathbungo’s Squares and Gardens).

Our interpretation is that pavement parking will remain technically illegal, but there will be no enforcement, and no further nagging warning notes, until further notice, on roads coloured green. I suspect that might be for quite a while given the scale of the task.

Note there are some exceptions. The ban will be enforced on Titwood Road, Nitshdale Street, and at some of the entrances to the Squares, where the road is wider. Check the map; purple streets will have the ban enforced, green will not.

Excerpt from council map of streets

Map showing which streets will have the ban enforced (purple).

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Rubbish Issues – Solve them with this one clever trick (sort of)

Yeah OK, we don’t have solutions to all the ongoing issues with rubbish.

While we have had comlaints about overflowing bins, we don’t see too much of a problem in the Squares and Gardens, but suspect the main problems are on Pollokshaws Road and in the park.

There is one simple thing that can help a little, with minimal input from you, yet it isn’t widely known. So here goes.

Every GGC street bin now has a QR code attached. Scan the code and it takes you to a page where you can report an overflowing or damaged bin. It takes three clicks (scan, tick, submit) and you’re done. Your contact details are purely optional.

This has two advantages:

  1. The Council will (well, should) come and empty the bin
  2. The Council build up a picture of the most troublesome spots and can modify practice accordingly

So please lets all start reporting bin problems, and it might get more attention from the refuse folk at the council.

Would this work on domestic bins too?

Network Rail Update – A tale of two bridges

The footbridge

The footbridge is being replaced in the coming months, and should be in place by mid June and open in July.

You will have seen the single lane closure to establish a base on Darnley Road. Further closures are coming:

28 April-2 May
12 May-16 May
2 June-5 June

Complete closure of Darnley Road between Sainsbury’s and Kildrostan Street over three long weekends

5 June-13 June

Closure of Moray Place

This is the design of the replacement:

Network Rail’s latest design proposal. Apologies for the low resolution, but that’s what they supplied.

We have had some further detail (only after pressure…) as follows:

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Nithsdale Road Bridge Reinstatement

The Society has been attempting to engage with Glasgow City Council about the road design on the new bridge since 2019, with the aim to encourage active travel such as walking and cycling, but it wasn’t until November 2022 that we got any response. With the aid of Cllr Jon Molyneux, GoBike and others, agreement was reached regarding improvements on the bridge and junction, including a segregated bike lane.

So we were massively disappointed when the bridge re-opened with the exact same road design as on its predecessor, as was our Councillor. It appears council officers “dropped the ball”.

The Society has written to the council to express our disappointment, and the letter is reproduced below (appendices removed for brevity):

Derek Dunsire,
Group Manager Liveable Neighbourhoods,
Glasgow City Council
Derek.Dunsire@glasgow.gov.uk

26/1/23

Dear Mr Dunsire,

The Strathbungo Society has been trying to engage with Network Rail and Glasgow City Council on future plans for the Nithsdale Rd bridge ever since the plans for electrification of the line were given the go-ahead. For example, after the very helpful presentation given by Henry Dempsey to the Pollokshields Area Partnership about plans for the bridges in the ward and the respective responsibilities of the Council and Network Rail, we tried to engage further (correspondence appended). We had very little success with either NR or GCC but were therefore extremely hopeful when at Cllr Molyneux’s instigation you held a site meeting on the 8th November 2022 which was attended by Cllr Molyneux, a number of GCC staff, a number of the Strathbungo Society Committee and a representative from the Glasgow Cycling Campaign. We were told then that GCC staff had been working on the design of the road across the bridge, to ensure it was future proofed and that it would include a two-way segregated bicycle lane. Your staff also undertook to look at other issues, for example to address water run-off from the extensive area of hardstanding, perhaps by creating a green soakaway / SUD.

It was with dismay therefore that the Strathbungo Society witnessed the contractors returning the bridge to how it was with the same narrow “murder strip” (Go Bike) for cyclists on the north side of the bridge as previously, which is unlikely to meet modern design standards . We understand from Cllr Molyneux that the reason for this is partly that a TRO was required and this was not done in time. While we understand the pressures you and your staff are under and you may not have direct responsibility for TROs, we would appreciate a fuller explanation of what has gone wrong. It seems to us to be crazy that when the Council is so short of resources that we are now in a position where the road over the bridge will require to be dug up again to install the bike lanes. What a waste! Moreover, now the road is open again we suspect there may be more objections to any proposed new traffic layout than there would have been if this had been progressed while the bridge was closed.

We note that on the internet – https://urban-future.org/speaker/derek-dunsire/– you describe yourself as “making cities more sustainable through community-led activities at a local level, involving residents, academia, businesses, city authorities, and other stakeholder organisations … focused on delivering real outcomes and not just project outputs … by working collectively”. Unfortunately, there has been a total absence of any collective working on the Nithsdale Rd Bridge – between the community, Network Rail and Glasgow City Council and elected Councillors. In fact, it seems to have been a “closed shop” of GCC and NR. The Strathbungo Society has never been provided with plans, either by Network Rail or by the Council, of how the finished road bridge would look. Had we been given sight of the plans, we might have also been able to ensure that appropriate action and amendments were made, saving time and money for all concerned. The issues continue we now have serious concerns about the nature and the standard of the stone facing to the concrete parapets which don’t appear suitable for a conservation area. The contractors, BAM, have now been out to look at the work after comments on social media and we would be grateful if you would now ask a planner with conservation expertise to look at the work.

At the onsite meeting we asked for a contact to liaise with the Council on matters to deal with the bridge. Unfortunately, you declined to provide a named contact and instead suggested we use the generic Liveable Neighbourhoods email. The consequences of that failure to appoint a lead seems to us linked to the failure of GCC to provide us with the courtesy of a message explaining what had gone wrong.

The wider issue here is that in good faith we have started to engage with the Liveable Neighbourhoods Project Team at Atkins. It is clear from that that there is very little corporate memory within Glasgow City Council and we have had to provide them with copies of work we did on the Nithsdale Rd area as part of the Pollokshields Charrette. While we understand some of the challenges you and your staff are facing, and don’t mind providing Atkins with information where we can, with GCC now apparently so short of resources that it cannot even deliver a simple project for a bridge we have serious concerns about how any Liveable Neighbourhood Plan for our area can possibly be delivered. That raises the question of whether GCC, instead of outsourcing plans to contractors, might not be better employing staff and increasing its capacity to DO things.

To take things forward in a constructive and collective manner, we propose a meeting to be convened by elected Councillors and to include the Strathbungo Society, the two Community Councils, Go Bike and GCC officials (LNT, NRS / Roads) to review what went wrong – and more importantly to discuss and shape proposals for Strathbungo portion of approved design work for the active travel route between Pollokshaws Rd and Dumbreck Road – which crucially include the road bridge and environs.

The Strathbungo Society is very supportive of the Council’s active travel plans and would like to be in a position to help make these happen by explaining their benefit to local residents. To do this effectively will require collective discussion on design and action on delivery and implementation. In the respect the Society would also like to see early movement in 2023 to establish a new active travel route between the south end of Moray Place to link it Titwood Road.

Yours Sincerely,

Paola Rezzilli
(Chair Strathbungo Society)

cc Cllr Jon Molyneux, Cllr Zen Ghani, Bailie Norman MacLeod, Bailie Hanif Raja, Shawlands Community Council, Pollokshields Development Trust, Go Bike

We have also been in touch with the contractor responsible for the stone facing being installed on the bridge, with concerns about the quality of the initial work, and they have promised to review this.

If we get a reply, we will let you know.

Crime Update

Rhiannon Spear has provided the following summary of the recent meeting with the Police regarding crime in the area (see previous blogpost)

Meeting Report

Over the last couple of weeks the Queen Square WhatsApp group has seen an increase in people reporting thefts from their cars, so I organised a meeting with local Councillors and Police to discuss what was going on in the area. Councillors John Molyneux, Norman MacLeod and Zen Ghani all attended the meeting as well as Community Policing Inspector Cennydd Smith, all of their contact details can be found at the bottom of this report.

The biggest takeaway from the meeting is that when we believe there has been a theft or an attempted theft you must report this to the Police. The Police have crime statistics for the area and Cennydd brought these with him but it was clear at the meeting that there was possibly more happening within the Strathbungo area than was actually being reported to the police. Cennydd stressed the importance of reporting to local policing as resources are deployed based on the need in local areas. If things are not being reported local policing will allocate resources to areas with higher reports of crime. If there is an emergency or you see an ongoing incident call 999, otherwise call 101 to make a crime report, this can be done retrospectively.

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Little Einsteins Nursery

Note: We have been asked to post this by a Strathbungo resident. The Society itself has no knowledge of, or views on, the issues raised.

Hi there,

I’m writing in relation to something that I’m sure hasn’t escaped your attention: the closure of Little Einstein’s Nursery on Nithsdale Road. Publishing on it in the future could be a really helpful thing to do and I would love to assist with that, as for right now I’m hoping we can exercise some Strathbungo community power to avert the permanent closure of this treasured local nursery.

They received a devastating lowest possible grading in their Care Inspectorate assessment last year. As a direct consequence of this, they now cannot find an insurer and have been shut since Monday last week (21st March). Having explored all the UK markets including Lloyds of London (my wife works for an insurance broker and has been supporting this process), it is becoming clear that the insurers are not interested in them at this grade. This is understandable given this is the lowest possible score the CI can award, which presumably is as close to instant closure as can be allowed to operate. This is a ridiculous overstatement and wildly inaccurate reflection of reality. The CI seem ignorant, unsympathetic and unhelpful on the fact that their rating is created a situation where permanent nursery closure is becoming the only possible outcome. If they cannot operate, they cannot make any earnings and will be unable to get reassessed.

We’ve been very impressed by all the improvements the Little Einstein’s team have made since the grading, but unfortunately their published scores remain unchanged. From our perspective, there is no cause for the nursery to be shutting over this. I’m confident our daughter receives above average care today, she loves the place and people, and misses both sorely. The impacts of closure are significant; loss of jobs, disruption and lost earnings for families, and disrupting the happy lives of young people in our community.

I’m frankly shocked by how this has all unfolded and am confident that if those involved could sit down together for a reasonable and considerate conversation, informed by all the relevant facts of the matter, that it wouldn’t be happening. I’m going to write to our MSP today.

One thing I wondered if you could help with is whether through the community network we know any Underwriters? My experience of these people is they are pivotal in the insurance world and that they make balanced and pragmatic decisions, which I’m confident in this case would be to find a way to allow the nursery to continue to operate.

Any other ideas or help of any sort you can lend to this cause will be so gratefully received by everyone effected I’m sure.

Many thanks for all your work and service to the community, I’m an avid reader of the newsletter and proud Strathbungoan.

Neil
neil.a.w.harrison@googlemail.com

Bins!

I chatted with the guy emptying our bins this morning (doing it all by himself!), and he said the Council and unions are in discussions about the bin lorries not going down the back lanes from the end of September!!! He had no idea what arrangements would be put in place instead. Has anyone else heard anything like this? Has the Society got a contact in the Council to check this out? 😩

Society Update 21 Sep 2021

We made some enquiries. The following statement has been received from the City Council.

“We are currently reviewing all collection routes across the city, particular attention will be given to properties where the bins are presented to lanes.

This is to assess the bin presentation areas to confirm they are safe for our refuse vehicles and staff. Where issues are identified, control measures will be put in place to reduce the risks.

These measures could be advising residents to present their bins to the end of the lane or at the front of the property.

As yet there has been no decision made however once recommendations have been made, we will consider the alternatives and engage with elected members and residents affected before any changes are implemented.”

The Strathbungo Society has asked what assessments have been made of the hazards that this will produce, particularly in the Squares, with their narrow width and parking hazards, or how the measures will affect elderly or disabled residents. We await a council response.

It is also worth noting this issue has been raised by the council several times over the last 20 years, but nothing has yet come of it.

Society Update 6 Oct 2021

A further clarification was sent by the Council to the Society:

What I mean is that there are assessments done city wide, whenever required. This could be due to the change in the conditions of a lane, resulting in it not being accessible for the workforce. Possibly the underfoot conditions have become slippery, very uneven or inaccessible due to overgrown foliage etc. These are a few examples of why the assessment would be carried out. This does not mean that the service would be withdrawn. It may mean that work is required to ensure the health and safety of our teams. If there is a concern raised by a team, the area would be assessed an relevant information would be passed to whoever it relates to. I do not have any timelines on this as yet. When I say “each property is assessed on its own right” I mean each lane is assessed in its own right and any remedial works needed would be the responsibility of the residents/ owners in each property with a share of ownership of that lane.

The Society has invited a Council representative to the AGM on 16 November 2021.

Network Rail – Strathbungo Station demolition

(Latest Update on 19 July 2020: NR’s second response, background on electrification)

Only a couple of weeks ago we were concerned that Network Rail were restarting tree felling along the railway line, and sought assurances that they would abide by previous agreements. They replied to reasssure us that they would. There remains a certain lack of trust around what Network Rail say, and what they do, so perhaps this was a sign of progress.

Jump forward to this week and we discover that, without any consultation with anyone, Network Rail were to demolish the old Strathbungo Station booking hall (more recently Susie’s Shop) on 18-19 July.

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Our environment

When I first moved into Marywood Square 4 years ago I thought that the lane running up the back of my tenement was a brilliant opportunity to get some wild flowers growing, so I sowed some seeds. They came to nothing. I was busy, new flat etc, I didn’t really give it much thought. The next Spring I took it a bit more seriously and I and a close neighbour both sowed seeds. Same result – nothing! But this time I realised why. The lane had been sprayed by weed killer – or so it appeared to me by the burned vegetation. So last year I gave seed sowing a miss only to see a couple of new plants in my garden killed as weed killer drifted through the railings.

I’m now getting more and more aware, and concerned that we have a serious environmental problem and it seems that globally we’re in the throws of a sixth mass extinction of species (manmade this time?) including a major threat to insects which are at the bottom of a food chain that maintains birds and animals and are crucial as pollinators. Could we in Strathbungo not play a small part in countering this by challenging the Council, who I’m presuming spray the lanes with weedkiller, and consciously try and turn our lanes into a haven for wild flowers insects and birds. It seems to me that this could be a very positive experience for the children in the area who with proper parental encouragement and support might enjoy helping bring wild flowers into the lanes and learning about them and the wildlife they support. I’ll contact the Council (again) and this time try and find out just why they think it’s a good idea to spray weedkiller. It seems strange to me as they don’t seem to take any responsibility for any other kind of “maintenance” in the lanes. Would other residents, and maybe the Strathbungo Society itself be interested in trying to get the spraying stopped and encouraging wild life into our area?

Network Rail Drop In Tuesday 6th December

Network Rail will be holding a public drop-in event tomorrow, Tuesday 6th December 2016 in Queens Park Baptist Church Hall, 180 Queens Drive, Glasgow, G42 8QD from 3.30pm to 6.45pm. In attendance will be representatives from Network Rail and the Strathbungo Society, as well as their contractors, QTS, all of whom will be on hand to answer any questions or address any concerns you may have about this work.

This is an opportunity to discuss

  • what will happen to vegetation outside your house on Moray Place when work starts in February
  • what replanting scheme, if any, you would like to see afterwards

We would really value your input. If you are a Moray Place resident, consider bringing a photo if you have particular concerns over vegetation opposite your house.

Queens Park Baptist Church Hall, 180 Queens Drive, 3.30pm to 6.45pm

Queens Park Baptist Church

Queens Park Baptist Church

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