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A G41 Campaign - The future of Shawlands

7 May, 2007 - 15:24 — david

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For generations of people, Shawlands has been a major shopping centre in the southside: we want it to stay that way.

Over the last 18 months, G41 has run lots of stories where people have expressed their fears about the future of Shawlands.

The same questions come up over and over again:
- What's going to happen to the Shawlands Arcade?
- What effect will the massive Silverburn shopping centre in Pollok have on the area?
- How can traders cope with increasing rents?
- Why are so many shops closing?
- What can be done to improve transport and parking?
- How can Shawlands be made more attractive?
- Should part of the area be pedestrianised?
- How can Shawlands be made safer at evenings and weekends?
- What can be done about the state of roads and pavements?

Shawlands & Strathbungo Community Council has been talking about these issues for a while and had plans to carry out a community survey to find out what local people and traders would like to see happen in the area.

The community council has to be applauded for raising the idea - but with the best will in the world, it's too big a job for a voluntary body to take on.

That's why G41 is now calling on the local Community Planning Partnership and Glasgow City Council to take up the issue.

We think they should consider:
- Carrying out extensive consultation with traders, shoppers and local residents to find out how they think Shawlands should develop
- Building on the work already done by the council on parking in the Deanston Drive area to look at all issues of transport and parking in and around Shawlands - including considering pedestrianisation
- Identifying sources of funding that could be used to help make improvements to the way Shawlands looks and provide dedicated police patrols for Shawlands at weekends and Bank Holidays
- Working with the owners of the Shawlands Arcade to help make sure that any re-development is part of a wider plan for the area
- Using all the information they've gathered to create an action plan to help make sure Shawlands is a lively, thriving and attractive shopping area in the years to come

There's a precedent for this. In 2003 Glasgow City Council drew up a five-year action plan to develop the retail sector in the Merchant City area.

Shawlands has some great things going for it - a good range of shops, great transport links, thriving nightlife and a growing population.

We think it's time to build on those good points and create a plan that maintains Shawlands as a vibrant town centre in the future.

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10 May, 2007 - 07:52 — Anonymous

shawlands redevelopment

i dont live in shawlands but the timed i have shopped there when the
tsb bank used to be open on saterday mornings and tandy had a shop there, i always thought that the arcade was FAR to small.
whilst the council is getting big bucks from the big supermarket
chains im afraid you dond stand an earthly
as for dedicated police patrols what a joke
yours w middlemas

10 May, 2007 - 11:24 — david

Shawlands

Thanks to W Middlemas for the comment. I'd say a couple of things about it. First - if you don't ask you don't get.
We can either wait for the effect of the new Silverburn centre at Pollok to happen and then moan about it afterwards, or we can try to plan for it now and make sure that Shawlands remains an attractive place to shop and has enough unique selling points to make it able to compete.
Second, in terms of the dedicated police patrols, well, as the local Chief Inspector recently told Shawlands & Strathbungo Community Council, it's all a matter of money. If the resources were available, he said he'd be delighted to have dedicated patrols for the Shawlands area at weekend evenings.
In the city centre the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership put in extra money to fund increased patrols - as you can read here. Couldn't our local CPP do the same thing?
I hope you'll sign our petition here.
All the best!
David Eyre
G41 Editor

24 May, 2007 - 23:00 — Andrew M

Time for change

It's time that the Shawlands area was recognised for the important part it plays in the Southside of Glasgow. G41 is correct when it says that regenerating Shawlands is too big an issue for a voluntary group like Shawlands and Strathbungo Community Council. However, the sad fact is that Shawlands is so far down the list of priorities that it has been split right down the middle. Shawlands and Strathbungo Community Council only covers part of Shawlands.

Shawlands isn't represented by one Community Council or one Community Planning Partnership or for that matter even in the same Council Ward, the only thing that seems consistent is we all have the same MSP. For as long as our community is divided the challenge facing Shawlands is made even greater by a bureaucracy that just doesn't seem to care.

Try taking a walk through Shawlands. I live there and I have to say, even after our two weeks of intensive Clean Glasgow activity (did anyone see anything?), it is just a dirty run down place. Look at the condition of the pavements, you can't see a street cleaner but you can't move for traffic wardens, there is so much wrong and so little interest from the powers that be.

I don't think we should under estimate the challenge that we face, but the one thing I am sure of is that the time is right for people in Shawlands - residents, visitors and businesses alike - to call for action. We pay our way, it's about time some of the revenue raised in Shawlands was spent in Shawlands.

2 July, 2007 - 10:08 — NadeemS (not verified)

The Future of Shawlands

My family has been resident in G41 for over 16 years. When we first moved into the area Shawlands and the associated amenities was one of the key reasons to move into the area. Unfortunately due to traffic and parking restrictions the whole area has been strangled and has led to a proliferation of meters. Kilmarnock Road and Pollokshaws Road are main arteries to and from the town centre so understandably the council has imposed some of these restrictions. Maybe the way to improve the area could be to revamp the area to encourage boutique shops / cafes / restaurants etc. Maybe the banks that are moving out of the area could instead invest in 'banking shops' ie having a premises which contain multi branded ATMs and deposit taking machines.

Unfortunately Glasgow Council have a very poor track record for innovation and many council tax payers suffer from some of the highest council tax bills in the UK.Very little of this money seems to go on the street furniture. Many of our lamp posts are so badly corroded that they are a serious risk to the public.

What is needed is a concerted plan for the area not just a sticky plaster approach.

3 July, 2007 - 09:38 — david

'Banking shops'

These sound like a really good idea. Keeping a local amenity while creating more retail space. Mind you, there seems to be plenty of retail space in Shawlands at the moment - the problem seems to be either: a. businesses don't want to move in because of uncertainty over the future of the Arcade and effect of Silverburn, or; b. the rents put on them by the owners are just too high.
David Eyre
G41 Editor