Glasgow Sauchiehall Street branded 'tired and bland' despite recent work

The Sauchiehall Street redevelopment is supported by the National Lottery
-Credit:Scottish Hospitality Group


Sauchiehall Street needs to look “less tired” and “more vibrant” if it wants to encourage people to invest in the area, a local councillor has warned.

Councillor Stephen Docherty blasted recent work to improve the historic Glasgow street as "bland" and "underwhelming", and said it needed to be more attractive to get people back onto the street.

His comment came during Wednesday’s Operations and Scrutiny committee meeting as it was confirmed that Glasgow Life is working with the local community to make sure they are part of future assets.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Glasgow's 850th celebrations with events on all year long

ADVERTISEMENT

READ MORE: Glasgow set for new American coffee chain as plans for cafe approved

Councillor Stephen Docherty said: “Has Sauchiehall Street’s emerging commitment arisen due to the street’s current condition, with fewer people visiting the street with poor maintenance and unfinished works as we have at the moment.

“It is pretty underwhelming what has been done, it’s bland. It needs to be more vibrant to get people onto the street and encourage people to invest.

“This is about seeing a progressive way forward to clean the street up and make it a vibrant street that people want to invest in because at the moment it looks pretty tired.”

An officer advised members that it was important to sometimes build on the assets that were already there. The local authority is also looking to identify alternative uses of heritage buildings.

ADVERTISEMENT

Join Glasgow Live's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.

They said: “In fact Sauchiehall Street and the surrounding areas have the greatest density of cultural organisations in the city.

“And so Glasgow Life, in terms of being one of the key cultural partners within the city, have worked with a number of those cultural organisations and the National Lottery Heritage Front.

“As a result of those conversations we have stepped in, while those works get completed while investment is built and that future for Sauchiehall Street is built back, to work with some of the local community and local arts organisations and make sure they have a voice and are part of the future reanimation of the street.

“It’s about building on the assets which are there.”

Sign up to our daily Glasgow Live newsletter here to receive news and features direct to your inbox