All thu usual lefty patter: talk ae diversity ae religon and ethnicity and multiculturalism yadda yadda yadda. All the "let's consult the community" talk tae.

These Charrettes cost a small fortune so thut a group ae lefty intellectuals can sit down wae thur tea and biscuits talkin' aboot how they'll improve thu community wae thur visions. And thu community spokesperson -- 'Pollockshields Primani George fae Asda Charlene' sit hob-knobbing wae thum nodding meaningfully at aw the utopian visions aw whilst wearing a name badge feeling self important. Talk, talk and mare talk. That's whit these lefties dae -- all whilst being funded wae the taxpayer.

And then, when sumthin diz git built, it's ae the white render, zinc-clad utopian persuasion currently gracing every town and city across Scotland. Not a Corinthian column tae been seen in sight.

How about just getting on an buildin stuff ae gid quality withoot all the verbosity? That too common-sense fur yiz? Not liberal enuff?

Diz a hoose need tae be built? Ok, build it. Diz a hospital need tae be built? Ok, build it. Aw this patronising community discourse is just nonsense -- it's dragging oot a mundane process (and getting paid fur it!!!!!) so that intellectuals can play at being left wing community activists.

Maw, yirra pure beamer so yiz are. Gie's it ey rest eh?

1# Paragraph three aside your not wide of the mark!

best part of £50,000 to be spent on a multi-cultural community by a group of middle class white men, getting paid to repeat what the residents tell them and do nothing tangible about it. This is self-serving nonsense. It is failing to engage with the community, it is superimposed on the area by an outside group and their agenda, not ours.

I say! Anyone for a game of Charettes!?

Thank you for your posts. By way of explanation Pollokshields Community Council covers the whole of Pollokshields and Port Eglinton on the Southside of Glasgow and obviously this includes East Pollokshields. Our ward, Ward 6, is one of the largest and most diverse constituencies in Glasgow. We are a non-political body and the community councillors form an heterogeneous group that broadly reflects the ethnicities, religions, genders and ages of those living within the ward boundaries.

The main reason we are pursuing a charrette is to complete an unfinished piece of work that forms part of GCC's City Plan 2, namely the East Pollokshields and Port Eglinton Planning Study as we feel this is important for the future development of the two areas with East Pollokshields in particular having one of the fastest growing populations in Glasgow and by far the most diverse population not just in Glasgow but in Scotland. For Scotland it is a unique population with unique needs.

Though Glasgow City Council committed to producing this document and started work on it in 2008, work stalled. GCC have now admitted that resources are such that they are unlikely to be able to complete it for at least another decade. So rather than just passively accept a circa two decade delay the PCC decided to roll up our sleeves and do it for ourselves. We have spent the last two years working towards this goal. This has involved a number of East Pollokshields residents and has included discussions with local and national politicians, officers in GCC DRS and LES and other stakeholders from Southside Housing Association to Transport Scotland and SPT

What we hope to achieve via the charrette is a way to stitch the Southside back into the city centre to overcome the severance, both physical and psychological, imposed by the construction of the M8 and the M74 extension and the damage inflicted by wholesale urban clearances in the 1960s and 1970s.

Our hope is that those who engage with the charrette will be able to articulate a vision that respects the traditional mixed use urbanism of East Pollokshields, Strathbungo and Govanhill and extends it north towards Laurieston and Tradeston.

We also hope to show that there are alternatives to the recent spate of car oriented developments proposed for this swath of the Southside. Part of this could be an examination of the potential to open up a new cycle and pedestrian commuting route that can connect East Pollokshields through Port Eglinton and past West Street Subway Station into the City Centre. We see this as a key way to promote a healthier and more robust City while also assisting with genuine social and physical regeneration of the Southside.

As there are two large development sites within the charrette boundary which, under the draft City Development Plan, are indicted as accommodating nearly 500 residential units how can we influence the style and massing of these so they respect the urbanism and character of the nearby East Pollokshields Conservation Area while providing a mix of tenure and types that meet the needs of the community. Is a design code the way to go?

We also want to look at how we can make our handsome but ageing Victorian and Edwardian tenement stock more energy efficient and sustainable. Simultaneously, as lack of green space and amenity space is a known local issue, are there ways to make our tenements streets fit for everybody and not just for cars? The Alexander 'Greek' Thomson end of Nithsdale Road for instance - a great European tenement street - wouldn't it be so much better if it wasn't just given over to parked cars? Berlin gets this right so why not Glasgow?

In addition, refuse, recycling and fly tipping are major local issues that many local residents are concerned about and why we have frequent community clean ups. Are there alternative solutions to the status quo that we can explore?

Last but not least we also want to look at training and employment opportunities for local people so we can improve the economic future for the community.

And that, is why we want to consult the community within the charrette boundary, which includes streets in the bottom 5% of the SIMD, because we don't want something imposed top down but rather something grassroots led that everyone can sign up to.

As we recognise that the PCC needs to step back from this process and let the community take ownership what we've done is put out a call for volunteers from the local community to become Charrette Champions. That call has been answered and we now have ten Charrette Champions covering all ages, genders, ethnicities and religions to reflect the full broad spectrum of the local community. Our hope is that they will inspire people to engage with the process so we can have a real big conversation as a community about how to plan a way forward for ourselves.

The PCC recognises that not everyone is going to agree with this and there will be dissenting views. And that's fine. As we want a proper debate we'd actually welcome it if people did come forward to express their opinion no matter what that might be. So if you have something to say and live within the charrette boundary or nearby on the Southside you are more than welcome to attend the Charrette.

This is an exciting opportunity for East Pollokshields and Port Eglinton so we want to make clear that the doors to the Charrette workshops and base at 553 Shields Road are open to all and we look forward to seeing you there. You can find more details at:?
https://www.facebook.com/pollokshields/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
(Soon) www.pollokshields.org

Tabassum Niamat

Community Engagement Officer for Pollokshields Community Council

well, that seems to have shut up the naysayers

Yesterday was the first day of workshops for the Make your Mark East Pollokshields charrette so I dropped by to the studio at 553 Shields Road on my way home in the evening to see how things were going and it looks like the naysayers here called it wrong.

Very busy with a good turnout from a cross spectrum of the local community. Loads of enthusiasm ?with a palpable buzz about the place.

When I walked through the door the audience were loudly applauding one of the speakers. Can't say I've come across that before at a consultation event. Then it was free curry and pakora for tea laid on by a local restaurateur. What's not to like?!

Looks like everyone's enjoying themselves and the charrette team have done a good job. You can see photos of it all here:

https://www.facebook.com/pollokshields

The big model of the charrette area looks to have been a good talking point and interestingly people have really embraced the Place Standard tool. It will be revealing to see what the results from that show as it should form a snapshot of how the community really feel about East Pollokshields at the present time.

Workshops continue at 553 Shields Road throughout today before moving to a full day design workshop ?in Pollokshields Community Centre at 15 Kenmure Street tomorrow.

If you are around the Southside at all today or tomorrow, and this kind of thing is up your street, it would definitely be worth popping in.

Did anything ever happen with this?

The community hub thing across from the Tramway must have been the least marketed community development i've ever seen...was that this?

Looked quite interesting from the outside but despite living just down from it never saw any posters up or anything about when it would be open; what the point of it was etc.