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Have Your Say – Queen’s Park Community Consultation

Queen’s Park Working Group, a community and Council partnership, has secured funding to engage landscape architects Ironside Farrar to develop proposals (and funding sources) to improve Queen’s Park and Recreation Ground.

As part of this work a Community Consultation has been launched that seeks folks’ views on how they use the park, what they like about it and how they think it could be improved.

The consultation questionnaire is available to complete in a variety of ways:

In addition, posters will be put up around the park and adjacent localities that will display a QR code that will link into the online questionnaire.

So if you want to have your say just go online or head to South Seeds to fill out the short questionnaire.

Queens-Park-Pond-House.jpg

Bungo in the Back Lanes 2023

Only two weeks to go! What are you planning for Bungo in the Back Lanes this year?

Saturday 17th June 2023, 1pm-5pm.

There will be the famous society tombola and bottle stalls, residents’ stalls, two tea gardens, two bars, two live music venues, a children’s garden and a craft fair.

There’s plenty of guidance on the FAQ page, from setting up stalls, to food hygiene, to donations. But, please, no sale of alcohol, nor drinking of alcohol in the lanes – it’s illegal and may get us all in trouble.

We are always on the lookout for volunteers to help out for a bit on the day, setting up, taking down, running our stalls, etc. See the volunteers page for details.

We are also looking for donations to our tombola and bottle stalls. If you can contribute details for this year are as follows:

Tombola donatons welcome at 21 Regent Park Square – Harriet Steynor (07729 451917)
Bottle stall donations welcome at 53 Queen Square – Teresa Mooney

Footbridge Update

This just in from Network Rail. Moray Place closure, and the new bridge is coming!

Good morning,

With our upcoming work involving the closure of Moray Place from 12-23 June, I wanted to send a reminder that the parking spaces at the Arnold Clark building will remain available for residents at 1-10 Moray Place.

Ahead of the footbridge installation, it would also be helpful for our preparatory works if residents could please utilise these spaces from 8 June onwards – as this will allow us to complete our work as efficiently as possible.

The actual lifting in of the new footbridge will take place overnight on Saturday 10 June from Darnley Road.

As previously advised, our work sites at both Darnley Road and Arnold Clark are scheduled for demobilisation in July.

Thank you for your continued patience.

Kind regards,

David O’Neill
Communications Manager, Scotland
Network Rail

Spring 2023 Newsletter

The latest newsletter has arrived. If it hasn’t made it through your door already, you can

Read it now!

It’s all Back Lanes: Details of Bungo in the Back Lanes, Brighter Bungo – it’s this SUNDAY 4th June, not Saturday as stated – and back lane repairs.

Thanks to Rhiannon Spear for editing this one. If you want to write something for the newsletter, or even better if you fancy helping edit it get in touch.

You can also find the newsletter, and old ones back to the 1990s, at the BygoneBungo Newsletter Archive.

Back Lane Repairs begin

With planning permission in place we reviewed our budget in the light of rapidly increasing costs. The full extent of works is beyond our available funds, and so we have elected to repair the Vennard Gardens lane entrance at Moray Place, and the central section of the Marywood & Queen Square lane that is most prone to flooding. The Vennard Gardens lane entrance at Pollokshaws Road is beyond our budget unless further funds become available.

That said, as soon as we agreed to proceed, our contractor, Richard Birch Gardens, got to work. They have already cleared blocked gulleys and have commenced work in Vennard Gardens. Access to the lane here will be impossible for the next week or so. Once this is complete, work will begin in the other lane, probably week commencing May 29th.

Work should be complete before Bungo in the Back Lanes.

Meanwhile local resident Christine Gibson has nicely documented the growth of the puddle from the early 1960s to the present day:

At left, a small child plays in a small puddle in the early 1960s, at right the entire lane is flooded

Back Lane Repairs Update

We have previously reported on plans to undertake some repairs to the back lanes.

It’s been a bit quiet since, mainly because the Council then decided to require us to make a planning application. We have just been informed we have permission to go ahead, and we are looking at a possible start in late April, or failing that in July, depending on the availability of our contractor, Richard Birch Gardens.

The planning application applies to both Vennard/Marywood cross lanes where they meet Vennard Gardens. It can be accessed on the Glasgow Planning Portal, ref 23/00175/FUL, or this direct link might work.

The Marywood Square back lane repairs are just that, and simpler in scope, so we have not pursued a planning application for this work. It may also ultimately be outside our fixed budget, but we will endeavour to achieve what we can.

Meanwhile we were originally told this could be a pilot for further repairs, but have since been informed that we can only apply for funding once. So unless there is a change of policy, the project stops once this work is done.

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:

Continue reading

The Fate of the Footbridge

Network Rail have announced a new home for Strathbungo’s footbridge.

The bridge, recently removed into storage, will find a new home at the Caledonian Railway’s Brechin Station. The old cast iron columns that held up Strathbungo Station’s booking hall (later Susie’s) will also be re-used at Brechin.

Caledonian Railway is a railway preservation charity that runs trains from Brechin to Bridge of Dun in Angus. They previously re-used the footbridge from Dunblane station at Bridge of Dun.

Window Wanderland 2023

After a two year hiatus due to Covid, Strathbungo Window Wanderland will return, in spectacular style, on Saturday 25th February!

Date: Saturday 25 February 2023
Time: 6-9pm
Location: Strathbungo, Glasgow, G41
Cost: Free and unticketed. All welcome!

Now in its 5th year and fast becoming a cultural highlight of the community calendar, this vibrant southside neighbourhood will play host to a street party like no other as residents transform their windows into a dazzling display of colour, creativity and community spirit.

The Guardian described the last event, in 2020, as ‘a glorious psychedelic playground… a retina-shredding explosion of pop culture’ and this year’s return promises to be just as incredible, transforming our streets into a spectacular outdoor gallery for all to enjoy.

Previous years have seen incredible performances in front rooms, amazing projections onto buildings, dance parties, giant human jukeboxes, intricate installations, pop up bingo halls, hair salons and tattoo parlours and music filling the streets….

Locals are busy plotting, designing, painting, borrowing ladders and rigging lights all in the name of creating a beautiful walking trail through the area. We imagine the ups and downs of the past two years will provide rich fodder for many residents planning their displays! And the human jukebox will be back.

Organiser, Sarah Reid, explains: ‘After such an unsettled period, that has been stressful and isolating for so many, it feels more exciting than ever to be organising this event that brings so much joy and magic to so many. Window Wanderland highlights what’s so special about our community and the beautiful and incredible things we can do when we come together.’

Note: This is a walking event and we ask that visitors please use public transport to get to the event. Residents are asked to plan ahead and avoid driving in the area if at all possible.

Facebook and Instagram: @bungowindows

Kindly supported by the Strathbungo Society and Pollokshields Local Area Partnership.

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.

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