Glasgow City Council allocate funding worth £600,000 to firms creating 'Liveable Neighbourhoods'

Contracts worth almost £600,000 have been handed to two consultancy firms for work redesigning streets across Glasgow.

Glasgow City Council is drawing up ‘Liveable Neighbourhood’ plans where people will be able to meet their daily needs within 20 minutes of their home by walking or cycling.

It is hoped the schemes will reduce the reliance on cars and make streets more attractive to residents.

The contracts are for tranche two of six planned ‘Liveable Neighbourhood’ programmes and cover four areas: Pollokshaws/Strathbungo, Gorbals/Pollokshields East, Sighthill/Hogganfield and Yoker/Whiteinch.

Councillor Angus Millar, city convener for climate and transport, said the consultants would develop proposals to “better connect and increase the attractiveness” of the communities.

A £287,480 contract has been agreed with engineering and development company Mott MacDonald while the other, worth £299,996 has been given to design and engineering firm Atkins.

Mott MacDonald will work on lot one – Sighthill, Hogganfield, Yoker and Whiteinch – and Atkins will develop lot two – Pollokshaws, Strathbungo, Gorbals and Pollokshields East.

Work will include community engagement and preparing concept designs. The council has said there will be opportunities for residents to feed into the activity digitally and at in-person events.

Cllr Millar said: “This second tranche of Liveable Neighbourhood activity will see the roll-out of immersive community engagement that will help to identify potential neighbourhood improvements that can transform streets into safer, more attractive spaces where everyday needs can be met locally.

“It also builds on similar early stage work recently delivered for five other Liveable Neighbourhoods across the city where ideas co-designed by residents are now being developed further.”

Consultation on earlier ‘Liveable Neighbourhoods’ projects, with residents in Ruchill to Cowlairs and Langside to Toryglen, led to proposals for traffic calming measures, improved footpaths, planters, public seating and traffic filters that prioritise active travel.

The 12-month contracts are being covered by a £600,000 grant from walking, wheeling and cycling charity Sustrans Scotland’s Places for Everyone programme, which is funded by Transport Scotland.

Cllr Millar added: “Interventions for each Liveable Neighbourhood such as reducing traffic flow or making it easier to walk or cycle to the shops have the potential to collectively deliver rebalanced, safer streets that make a real difference to people’s quality of life.

“This early-stage work that will start in the coming weeks will be driven by community groups and residents, drawing out their needs and aspirations and setting out how we can enable people to have their day-to-day needs met close to home.

“By creating streets that are more suitable for walking, wheeling and cycling we can help make active travel a more natural choice for local journeys, reducing car dependency and cutting emissions, as well as encouraging more people to use local shops and businesses.”

Councillors were set to decide on the contracts on September 15 but the meeting was cancelled following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Officials decided awarding the contracts could not be delayed as it would provide an “operational and funding risk to the programme”.

Delegated approval was granted by the council’s chief executive and details of the contracts will now be presented to councillors on Thursday.