ReGlasgow

M8 Garden Cap And Winter Gardens Project Included In Funding Bid

22 June, 2022 | News

SEVEN bids for Glasgow projects are being prepared for the second funding call of the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF).

They are a garden cap over the M8 Garden Cap at Charing Cross; refurbishment of the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens; regeneration projects in Drumchapel, Easterhouse, Maryhill and Possilpark; and the Clyde Connectivity scheme at Govan. Each is considered potentially deliverable before the end of 2025 if a bid was successful.

The fund has £800million available for three rounds of projects in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales under three themes — smaller transport schemes that will make a genuine difference in local areas; town centre and high street regeneration; and support for the maintenance and expansion of cultural and heritage assets.

Bids will be submitted to the UK Government on 6 July. A successful £13million bid was made to the first call of the fund last year for the Pollok Country Park Stables and Courtyard project, now underway.

Glasgow City Council can submit up to seven bids (one per UK parliament constituency), with a maximum value of £20million per application. There is also provision for the council to submit one large scale transportation bid (with a value of between £20million and £50million).

Project details:

M8 Garden Cap and Public Realm improvements:

This transformational project would see a complete reconfiguration of the Charing Cross area in terms of transport and public realm, with construction of a garden cap over the M8 between Sauchiehall Street and Bath Street; creation a green space offering a new community asset to residents, visitors and local businesses. The space would reconnect the city centre with the West End, extending the impact of — and connecting to — the Avenues Programme (Sauchiehall, Elmbank, and St Vincent Streets), as well as the Connecting Woodside project.

People’s Palace and Winter Gardens:

This project would refurbish both the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens to restore the building’s potential as a local amenity in one of Glasgow’s most deprived neighbourhoods, as Glasgow’s Local History Museum and as an integrated part of the city’s events infrastructure.

Regenerating Drumchapel Town Centre:

This proposal would deliver the regeneration of the core of the designated Drumchapel Town Centre focused on the shopping centre, its immediate environs and wider connectivity to improve accessibility and patronage. The proposal would link to the community hub investment proposed for the area, with public realm and active travel improvements supporting the redevelopment of the site.

Regenerating Easterhouse Town Centre:

The proposal includes enhancement of the Lochs Shopping Centre building, public realm improvements at key access points, including the car park and public entrances, and wider access improvements to the active travel network to increase patronage and accessibility withing the local town centre, particularly focused on links to existing facilities and the Seven Lochs Wetland Park.

Regenerating Maryhill Town Centre:

This proposal would advance delivery of regeneration within Maryhill Town Centre and the adjacent Transformational Regeneration Area, and help unlock development through a green infrastructure strategy. The project also aims to forge improved physical and active travel links to the city-wide active travel network and the local canal, including Stockingfield Junction.

Possilpark Liveable Neighbourhood:

This proposal would deliver a step change in the regeneration of Possilpark, focused on Saracen Street, Stonyhurst and Allander Streets, a number of adjacent brownfield sites, the creation of the new urban park at Cowlairs with the associated development platform, and the adoption of Carlisle Street.

Clyde Connectivity:

This proposal for the Govan area involves removing the barriers of 1960s-style highway infrastructure and connecting the community with the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Scottish Events Campus and Glasgow city centre to the wider West of Scotland economic area. This will include new active travel infrastructure, placemaking measures, green infrastructure, development opportunities and parking controls that will unlock multiple sites for increased connectivity and investment.

Councillor Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “The ambitious new bids to be submitted to the Levelling Up Fund offer the opportunity to bring a range of real economic, environmental and social benefits to either local communities or the wider city.

“There is a very strong case being made for these bids, any and all of which would make a difference to Glasgow.”

Decisions are expected to be made by the UK Government in the autumn.

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