Funding to regenerate vacant and derelict land in Glasgow set to be approved

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A number of underdeveloped areas across Glasgow are set to benefit from the scheme

Five projects to regenerate rundown sites in Glasgow are set to benefit from £5.5m, as a push to revamp vacant land which is a “blight on communities” continues.

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Councillors will be asked to accept Scottish Government funding for redeveloping land at a meeting on Thursday. Through a five-year £50m vacant and derelict land investment programme, Glasgow is set to receive five grants, including almost £2.4m for work at Govan Graving Docks.

That project would include the restoration of public realm and open space, while nearly £1.5m is expected to be awarded to Maryhill Housing Association for the creation of green space, paths and community growing space.

Just under £800,000 is set to go to Rosemount Development Trust for “green community space” at Provanhill Street, including planting and paths, and around £770,000 could be spent on “enhancement of woodland habitat” at Cadder Woods. The final funding award, of just over £180,000, is expected to go to charity South Seeds to support the transformation of the derelict old changing rooms in Queen’s Park, with a “community net zero hub” planned.

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A further £2m has been confirmed by the Scottish Government from its vacant and derelict land fund for 2023/24, which has the “potential to contribute towards at least 12 hectares of vacant and derelict land being investigated and/or treated”.

Seven projects are set to benefit from that funding, with over £650,000 expected to be allocated to tree planting and used on site preparation to “bring into operation a tree nursery for a local social enterprise”. Just over £640,000 could be awarded to Clyde Gateway towards the creation of “high quality outdoor space” and Spire View Housing Association is set to get £265,000 to fund work on a community park.

Other groups expected to receive money are at the Seven Lochs Wetland Park, Barmulloch Community Development Company and the council’s neighbourhoods team for work at the Greyfriars Garden.

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A report to Glasgow’s city administration committee states there was a fall in derelict and vacant land in the city between 2021 and 2022, down 32 hectares — the equivalent of 45 football pitches — to 848 hectares. It added this continues “a trend that has been ongoing for well over a decade”. The number of vacant sites fell from 644 to 619, mainly through house building but also new leisure, recreation and green space developments.

Cllr Kenny McLean, SNP, the council’s convener for development and land use, said: “The continued reduction in vacant and derelict land in Glasgow is good news for a number of reasons. While there can often be complex reasons for sites remaining derelict or vacant, they nonetheless act as a blight on communities which could otherwise benefit economically, socially or environmentally, and it is great to see so many new homes and other facilities being built on this land. We will continue to work with our partners in the public and private sectors to bring more of these sites back to productive use.”

The report added Glasgow has a “complex mix of poor ground conditions, fragmented ownership and inadequate infrastructure relating to many sites” which “acts as a brake on the economic potential of the city”.

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It stated the “blighting impact” of derelict land most disproportionately affects “those suffering from multiple deprivation”, and “continues to be concentrated in the east and the north of the city”. Around half the sites on the register of vacant and derelict land are in council control.

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