Glaswegians have their say on planned city centre revamp
From today, Glaswegians can have their say on ambitious plans put forward by the council to revamp the city's central district.
The 10-year regeneration plan includes prioritising pedestrians, brightening up Hielanman's Umbrella and downgrading the M8's motorway status.
It's being put to a public consultation today which will run until February 14th.
Steve Martin owns Short's Barber Shop, located on Argyll Street underneath Glasgow Central Station, welcomed the plans saying that shoppers are put off going to Hielanman's Umbrella:
"I've often felt people viewed going through the bridge as a bit intimidating.
"They really could change this and turn that around by some imaginative ways of using lighting or some other features to make it much more attractive for people to go through there rather than feeling intimidated."
Dr James White, a city planning expert and lecturer at Glasgow University, says the plans are ambitious:
"Glasgow city centre faces some challenges, some of these are well documented like the fact it's got some of the most polluted streets in Scotland.
"It's got some challenges with retail in terms of the contraction of the main shopping area.
"It's also got lots of exciting opportunities, opportunities to connect better with the waterfront, to create new ways for people to get around the city through biking or walking and some really big ideas around transforming the city centre from predominantly a retail and office environment into a community".
Ian Elder works in the council's city centre regeneration team, he says public consultations can help bring fresh ideas:
"When you open it up to a public consultation you also get some really good comments and good ideas, or additional ideas that come forward so that in itself can be quite interesting, but yes overall I'm expecting a positive response."
The consultation will run for 10 weeks, people can have their say through an online survey or by sending ideas to the local authority by email or post.
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