Attend one of two consultation meetings to share your thoughts on how to improve infrastructure on the street – with the hope of future funding

North end of Cathcart Road | Courtesy of Google Maps

By Jack Howse

From September to November last year, you may have noticed survey-takers on and around the north end of Cathcart Road, asking residents about ways the road could be improved in order to encourage more active and sustainable travel options. This includes things like walking, wheeling, cycling and use of public transport.

193 people answered the on-street survey and identified several priorities for the area including:

addressing the issue of littering and fly-tipping by increasing the frequency of rubbish collection, installing more litter bins, and ensuring proper maintenance of communal bins;
addressing pavement issues by repairing broken or uneven paving, ensuring proper maintenance, and securing tiles;
developing safe cycle routes and lanes while ensuring appropriate width to promote cyclist safety without impeding traffic flow (although some people said they wanted the opposite);
enhancing available parking spaces and addressing challenges with parking availability on the streets, ensuring better parking management to alleviate congestion, prevent double parking, and improve accessibility;
enhancing the area by planting more trees and flowers, possibly utilising planters for trees to promote a greener and more vibrant environment.

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These priorities formed the first part of a project facilitated by local environmental organisation South Seeds and the national charity Planning Aid Scotland.

Now, they're calling for local residents to attend one of two meetings on 1 February to further discuss how the area could be improved. The first is at the Larkfield Centre on Inglefield St from 1-2:30pm with the second happening just down the road at Daisy Street’s Govanhill Neighbourhood Centre from 6:30-8pm.

“The workshop will explore the priorities that have already emerged, give people the opportunity to add to them or offer edits.” Erin Fulton, Community Development Manager at Planning Aid Scotland told Greater Govanhill. “And then we'll see how we can make some of the actions a bit more do-able by outlining who could perhaps help and next steps.”

Afterwards, the two charities will create a Sustainable and Active Travel Action Plan for the area which they will present to Glasgow City Council and Scottish Government in the hope of getting the plan funded.

This sequence of events is part of Planning Aid Scotland’s (a charity and social enterprise that helps people and communities to navigate the planning system) Sustaining Choices initiative which is building this type of plan with seven communities around Scotland, including Govanhill.

This plan is being developed at the same time as the Glasgow City Council Liveable Neighbourhood Plan that seeks to improve accessibility of Crown Street Retail Park which is the nearest supermarket and gym for residents living on and around north Cathcart Road.

Lucy Gillie from South Seeds told Greater Govanhill about why the plan is focused on this particular part of the local area: “The north section of Cathcart Road is very busy with loads of residents, shops, the post office and health centre. However the streetscape hasn’t had the same level of attention or investment that Victoria Road has benefitted from.”

She added: “It is great when neighbourhoods are better connected. We are excited about the segregated cycleway which is going in from the Victoria road gates of Queen’s Park to the Battlefield Rest… Other places in the area we would like to improve include the puddles where the road and pavement meet on Allison Street and in other places where there are drainage issues.”