Impact of ‘harmful’ public events in Glasgow should be scrutinised, says petition

The petition, signed by 93 people, points out residents are not made aware of the environmental impact of events such as pollution in Glasgow.

The main petitioner Chrissy Sanachan is due to speak at a council meeting next Thursday.

They want firms or organisations using public land to make environmental and biodiversity impact assessments available for everyone to see. Calling for change, they said council involvement in event decisions should be open to public scrutiny before permission is granted.

The petition will go before the Wellbeing, Empowerment, Community and Citizen Engagement City Policy Committee next week for consideration.

Councillors are due to decide whether the issues raised need further action or not.

The petition said “the public doesn’t know what harm any use of their public spaces may cause them, their children or their local environment.”

Possible impacts include emissions, air, water, noise and light pollution and increased traffic according to the petition.

The petition said: “We call on the council to demonstrate commitment to sustainability, net zero emissions and protection of biodiversity by requiring transparent assessment of public land use.”

It also said “commercial applicants” should be ordered to offset projected emissions before use.

A council report said events permission processes already involve the discussion of potential environmental and biodiversity impacts with organisers.

It said “a range of measures” are put in place “in order to avoid, minimise, rectify, reduce or offset any potential negative impacts” and enhance positive ones.

Currently suppliers don’t have to offset potential emissions.