Credit: Glasgow Guardian / Rachel Wood
Deputy News Editor
Glasgow City Council has made plans to replace 90 lanes in the city centre. This is to take place over the next 17 months, and to be finished by March 2018.
The plans have been sparked by a project to reduce commercial waste in the city. The regeneration of the lanes involves getting rid of huge commercial waste containers on the streets. The plan is to use this space for other purposes, such as opening independent public places such as bars, restaurants and shops.
The pilot project, which began on 3 April in eight separate locations in the city, was established to increase recycling and reduce amounts of litter within these city centre lanes. The pilot project gained support from local residents and businesses within the area. A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “The regeneration of these lanes would play a significant role in the ongoing transformation on the city centre.”
Councillor Kenny McLean, City Convener for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Public Realm, said: “I am delighted by the decision to make a phased roll-out of this project across Glasgow. The pilot showed how adopting these measures made the streets of the selected areas in the city centre cleaner, greener and safer, and I look forward to the expansion of the scheme making Glasgow an even more pleasant place for everyone who lives, works or studies in the city, as well as for our visitors. I would like to thank all of our partners in the city centre who have worked with us to deliver the pilot project, and we will continue to engage with residents, business and other organisations to ensure the project is equally successful across the rest of Glasgow.”
Stuart Patrick, the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief executive, noted: “The new arrangements are undoubtedly challenging for some businesses, but this has to be laid against the concerns raised by many of our members about the impact on both appearance and accessibility of large commercial waste containers left in the street during the working day. The city centre pilot has been a success, and we welcome the scheme’s expansion to other parts of the city.”
The project, which has been cleared to go ahead, now looks to expand outside of the city centre of Glasgow.
