Thornwood Community Council
Minute of meeting on 04/03/2025
Partick Free Church Hall
2-4 Thornwood Terrace Glasgow G11 7QZ (6.30pm)
1. Welcome and apologies
Attendees:
TCC Members
Shaun Conroy (Chair)
Jamie MacBrayne (Treasurer)
Colin Price (Secretary)
Allan Smith
David Garfield
Geraldine Ross-Hargreaves
Madeline Jansen
Nicolas Dear
Séamus Gallagher
Stephen Marshall
Ex Officio Members
Councillor Lana Reid-McConnell (Scottish Green Party)
Other attendees
Gemma Love (Police Scotland)
2 members of the public
Apologies Received in Advance
Councillor Eunis Jassemi (Scottish Labour Party)
Not present
Councillor Feargal Dalton (Scottish National Party)
2. Minutes
Minutes for previous meeting (4th February 2025) — approved
Proposed:Jamie Seconded:Nic
3. Matters arising
- Student accommodation update
Shaun spoke of his meeting with Glasgow University and reported that the developers had not reached out to the University.
He listed some of the concerns about the development such as social integration.
Colin said that he felt the main concerns that people had were to do with the height of the development.
It was agreed that there was nothing more for the CC to do until a formal planning application had been submitted and we could decide then if we wanted to make a formal response.
4. NIIFund update
Members had been notified prior to the meeting that the proposed NIIFund Area Partnership/CC meeting to be held on Monday 3rd March had been cancelled due to ill health. A new date will be arranged for later in the month.
Members were advised that there had been a few changes to the TCC priority list since the last meeting. The new list is in attached note 1.
5. Flytipping
- Kennoway Lane
Members were updated following the meeting that was held on Thursday 27th February to discuss the problem, which was attended by various officers from GCC, Lana, Shaun, Colin, some Factors looking after properties on Kennoway Drive, and a local resident. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss:
– how to address the immediate problem of clearing the lane,
– how to prevent a recurrence, and
– how to improve the general state of the lane.
Although he agreed that the meeting was not very productive, Colin nevertheless wanted to acknowledge and thank Mark McColgan for arranging the meeting.
GCC’s position appears to be that it has nothing to do with them and it is a problem for the residents despite the fact that half the lane is owned by GCC (Education).
The next steps are that Lana will seek to liaise with Education who were not able to make anyone available to attend the meeting, and to explore with the relevant Factors the use of the Private Lane Improvement Fund.
A member of the public said that her deeds said that her property ended at the end wall and did not include any of the lane. She added that there was some evidence that some of the lane was owned by the Church of Scotland.
One consequence of the meeting was that the Officer from cleansing declared that the lane was unsafe for his teams collecting the bins and bin collections will now be made from the pavement in Kennoway Drive. It is unclear if, when, or how this will happen. Lana said this was an urgent issue and is seeking clarification on what the risk assessment actually said. - Other areas of flytipping
A member of the public highlighted other areas where flytipping occurs notably by the gates at the bottom of Thornwood Drive. He noted that reporting flytipping either through the app or online web portal seemed to be very successful when the flytipping was on council owned land.
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/4250/Report-Environmental-Issues
6. Police Scotland report
Officer Gemma Love explained how community policing worked which started with checking the logs for the area so that the officer is aware of what is happening in the community. Their role is also to inform the community about crime prevention.
Gemma detailed some of the crime issues that had affected Thornwood.
- A couple of break-ins to commercial premises where the perpetrators were caught do to the vigilance of the public.
- Youth disorder and shoplifting, although this was on a par with elsewhere and there was no clear evidence that the area was being targeted.
- A couple of vehicle fires one of which was possible malicious
- Some drug dealing.
The meeting was reminded that
- 999 is for any ongoing crime that you see happening.
- 101 for non-ongoing crime such as finding graffiti when you arrive home, and also for getting information about an incident, etc.
- Email will also result in a police incident number being raised which will be actioned. This is often seen as a better way of contacting the police rather than waiting for the 101 to be answered.
7. Elected Representatives Update
- Bollards to stop people blocking the entrance to the car park for the flats by Thornwood Park.
- Phone box removal at foot of Thornwood Drive.
- Graffiti at the Meadow Road / Dumbarton Road junction
- Restricted Parking Zone (RPZ) – see below
- Working with Scotrail to improve the bike rack and the surrounding area at Partick Interchange.
- Lights at Glasgow Harbour
- GCC budget has been set and increases in funding for street cleaning, park improvements, and neighbourhood liaison, may be beneficial to some of the problems in the Thornwood area.
David said that he had been in contact with Lana on two matters: the hoarding around the empty property on Apsley Street and the use of X. With regards to the hoarding it has now collapsed in part allowing entry into the property. Lana will attempt to engage again with the owners. With regard to X Lana said there were ongoing discussions about whether X is an appropriate platform for council use.
Shaun offered thanks to Lana on behalf of everyone for the work that Lana has been doing on behalf of the area.
8. Broomhill Place Plan
All members have been sent the draft copy of the Place Plan.It was noted that the area covered by the Plan included the area around the tall flats. This extension to the area for the purposes of the Place Plan had been approved by GCC. Two of the proposed improvements to that area have been added to TCC’s NIIF priority list.
9. Better Busses campaign
It was agreed that TCC would support this campaign.
Alan and Séamus have agreed to be responsible for liaising on this.
(Proposed by Nic, Seconded by Maddie)
10. Proposed Visitor Levy Scheme for Glasgow
There is an online information session on Wed. 5th March. This will be attended by Colin & David who will report back next month.
11. RPZ update (covered under item 7)
Parking Services say that they are currently considering making some modifications to the initial Broomhill/Thornwood RPZ draft design following a meeting with a number of stakeholders in September 2024. Once the design has been amended, all properties within the proposed zone will be written to advising how they can view and provide feedback. A 6-week period for response will be allowed to give all affected locals adequate time to provide valuable feedback before we commence the statutory Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process.
The original aim was to write out to the properties within the boundary during Quarter 1 of 2025, to advise them on how they can view and provide feedback on the design.
The timings have now been delayed due to staff leaving. Interviews are scheduled for mid-February and providing that suitable candidates are identified, we would hope that vacant posts will be filled by the end of March. (latest info as of 7th February)
12. Community Councils’ 50th anniversary / Glasgow 850 – Advisory Group
This was not discussed due to lack of time.
13. Planning & Licensing – Jamie
https://tellmescotland.gov.uk/tellmescot/pages/notices?mode=postcode&pCode=G117QZ
14. Treasurer Report – Jamie
The monthly report was circulated to members prior to the meeting.
Jamie explained that to avoid significant bank charges that start if there are more than 6 transactions a month, it would be best if the £500 was transferred to an unused private account and when purchases have been made any remaining monies transferred back. All receipts would be kept as is required so all monies and expenditure would be fully accounted for. This was agreed.
15. Questions from the public – none
16. AOB
- Proposed Waiting and Loading Order
GCC has sent an email detailing a proposed waiting and loading Traffic Regulation Order. The Council has written to the relevant stakeholders to establish their preliminary views prior to any publication of proposals. These details have been sent to TCC “for your information only and are not for public distribution currently”.
Colin will circulate the email after the meeting on the understanding that it will not be reposted or shared outwith TCC. - X
There were differences of opinion on whether discussing the continued use of X was worth spending any time on. It was suggested that we wait and see what GCC do and revisit the issue if and when there is a change in council practice. - Illegal parking on Meadow Road – deferred
The next meeting will be on April 1st 2025