Council Leader Advocates for Expanded Authority Following Union Street Fire
The leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, has expressed a desire for increased powers to safeguard the city’s buildings in response to the recent fire on Union Street.
During an interview on BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show, Aitken highlighted that councils currently possess "very limited" powers and emphasized the need to extend these, particularly to address issues related to neglectful private landlords.
She also announced that planning efforts would commence this week regarding the future of the now derelict site located at the intersection of Union Street and Gordon Street, a central and busy area within Glasgow’s city centre.
Central Station Closure and Site Management
Central Station remains closed until at least Wednesday as demolition work continues on the remnants of the building destroyed by the fire last Sunday.
Glasgow City Council assumed control of the site from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) on Thursday and is currently leading the clean-up operation.
Government Support and Recovery Fund
At his party’s spring conference on Saturday, First Minister John Swinney announced a £10 million recovery fund aimed at supporting the council, local businesses, and agencies in the effort to "rebuild and renew that vital part of the city."
He further stated that the Scottish government would cover the costs associated with clearing the site.
Challenges in Preserving Glasgow’s Heritage Buildings
Aitken noted that the fire and concerns about the condition of many city centre buildings underscore the challenges Glasgow faces.
"We do have a challenge. We've got perhaps one of the biggest concentrations of heritage buildings in any city in the UK, the vast majority of which are in private hands,"
she said.
She added that many private owners are neglecting these buildings and expressed a wish for the council to have "far stronger" powers to enforce their maintenance or to "remove their ownership."
"We use compulsory purchase orders in Glasgow, more than all of the other local authorities in Scotland put together,"
she explained.
However, Aitken acknowledged that these orders are legally challenging and costly, placing many cases beyond the council’s reach.
She further stated that many necessary measures to take ownership from private landlords or enforce regulations currently lie "beyond the power of the council."
"I would like us as a council to have more powers than we currently do. At the moment we have quite limited powers,"
she added.
Context of Recent Fires and City Centre Investment
The Union Street fire is the latest in a series of similar incidents in Glasgow over recent years.
Aitken defended the overall condition of the city centre, rejecting the notion that it is in poor shape.
"There's certainly a narrative that is pushed about Glasgow along those lines. But if you go into the city centre right now you will see unprecedented levels of investment taking place,"
she said.
She highlighted that investment is coming from multiple sources including the public sector through the city deal, the council itself, private sector partners, and property owners.
Future Planning and Collaborative Approach
Aitken has convened a meeting this week to discuss next steps and hopes this will initiate a process to "use this huge loss for the city."
"I think that's a conversation that needs to be had and that's why I've asked a number of prominent people who I'm very pleased to say have been really, really willing and keen to contribute to framing an approach to this over the coming months,"
she said.
Plans are also underway for the compulsory purchase of the nearby Egyptian Halls, with work being conducted on the entire Gordon Street area, which includes the main entrance to Central Station.
"What I've asked my officers to do on Glasgow City Council is actually to masterplan that wider area,"
she explained.
"So there's a lot of work already planned for that area. I guess what's happened makes that job bigger but it also means that we want to involve a range of people, a range of expertise in making that plan and exploring the art of the possible."
