Street clean-ups planned around Glasgow Central Station in bid to attract city investors

Quick street clean-ups are to take place in the city centre including in areas around Glasgow Central to spruce the place up for investors.

The work, which could include planting new potted trees, removing shabby furniture, fixing pavements and street washing, aims to address the 'look and feel' of the city centre.

Some jobs could be turned around in as little as five days and the fast response would target neglected and poor quality public areas "undermining investment opportunities" according to a council paper.

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A council official told a committee this week work carried out as part of the pilot scheme would include "initiatives that support the investor experience of Glasgow City Centre."

She added: "In short the investor experience is a term we use to describe the first impressions potential investors get as they arrive in the city centre.

"They tend to arrive at Glasgow Central and move to areas like the financial services district, the innovation district and the commercial business district.

"There has been fairly persistent feedback for some time about the look and feel of the public realm on these routes."

Developers and council services can propose where the work should be done, the council's economy, housing, transport and regeneration city policy committee heard yesterday.

The scheme - dubbed the City Centre Rapid Repairs Project- would see improvements made on top of maintenance already being carried out by the council.

Half of the money for the rapid repairs programme will come from developer contributions paid as part of planning permission.

The project would operate as a one year pilot and have a budget of £400,000 with half coming from the council's city centre strategy capital funding and the other £200,000 taken from developer contributions. It is due to begin in January.

The new idea is the latest measure from the the council's city centre strategy 2024 to 2030. Previous actions included grant funds being made available for empty buildings and to improve the look and feel of the city centre.

Councillor Robert Mooney, Labour, asked if the programme would include making the city centre more accessible for people with disabilities.

The officer replied that the rapid repairs remit would not include that specifically but any public realm scheme would comply with accessibility regulations.

The committee referred the pilot to the City Administration Committee for final approval.

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