We the undersigned welcome the decision by Alex Neil and the Scottish Government to call in the proposed development plan for North Kelvin Meadow. We are now appealing for a full inquiry into the future of this land and ask that it should be protected indefinitely from future residential development.
People have been using this land for decades, and campaigning to save and repurpose the space since the late 1990s. This land now supports a community-led initiative used by 22 schools, nurseries and playgroups each week: teachers and local people are being trained in outdoor learning. It is a resource for groups with additional support needs, asylum seekers and the elderly. North Kelvin Meadow hosts regular events, organises food growing and has over 200 volunteers. It has achieved charitable status, won National awards, and has obtained grant funding. All this community passion and action are driving an immense long-term investment for the city and its citizens, yet costing it not one penny.
Having access within urban communities to green space like the Meadow is vital for addressing the most urgent issues in our cities: reducing health inequality, social isolation and crime, tackling food poverty and increasing well-being through the connection that children and young people have with nature. These places make people happy and well. We need more of them. This is why we are calling on the Scottish Government to protect this site against speculative residential development in perpetuity.
The vitality of North Kelvin Meadow and The Children’s Wood is a great example of the community empowerment advocated by the Scottish Government. We want the Scottish Government to promote the economic and social value that these green spaces can give to urban communities: a value with far broader, more sustainable and lasting returns than property development.
It is claimed that there has been consultation on the future of the Meadow with the local community and yet no such consultation has taken place. Their voice has not been heard and they are threatened with the loss of a much valued of amenity that they have enjoyed and cultivated for decades. We call on you to hold a full public inquiry into the circumstances under which this land that was neglected by the city council for twenty years, and has never been built on came to be sold for private development. Please preserve North Kelvin Meadow as an open space so that it can be enjoyed by the community for years to come.
Tam Bailie, Children’s Commissioner for Scotland
Emeritus Professor Gill Scott, Glasgow Caledonian University
Prof Mark Reed, Professor in Social Innovation, Newcastle University
Prof John McKendrick, Glasgow School of Business and Society, Glasgow Caledonian University
Professor Eleanor Gordon, Economic and Social History, The University of Glasgow
Professor Alexandra Shepard, School of Humanities, The University of Glasgow
Professor Lynn Abrams, School of Humanities, The University of Glasgow
Dr Carol Craig, Director of The Centre for Confidence and Well-being
Dr Niamh Stack, School of Psychology , The University of Glasgow
Sue Palmer, Writer and literacy expert, Upstart campaign
Dr Margaret Sutherland, School of Education, The University of Glasgow
Monica Porciani Lecturer, School of Education, University of Strathclyde
Dr Henry Noltie, Botanist
Julia Donaldson, Author
Alan Sinclair, Economist, The Work Foundation
Iain Abercrombie, Head of Faculty for Creative and Digital Industries, Glasgow Kelvin College
Scottish Network for Able Pupils
Marguerite Hunter Blair, CEO Play Scotland
Woodcraft Folk Scotland
Alistair Gray, Artist & Writer
Bernard MacLaverty, Writer
Cathy Forde, Writer
Andy Wightman, Writer
Tam Dean Burn, Actor
Kate Dickie, Actor
Alec Finlay, Poet
RM Hubbert, Musician
David McCluskey, The McCluskey Brothers
Alex Neilson, Trembling Bells
Paul Thomson, Franz Ferdinand
Richard Wright, Artist
Dr Sarah Lowndes, Writer
David Hayman, Actor
James Morton, Baker and Writer
Laura Fraser, Actress
Christine Grady, Heritage Manager, Maryhill Burgh Halls
Queen Margaret Drive Traders Association
Amanda Patterson, Director, The Hidden Gardens
Woodlands Community Gardens
Battlefield Community Project
Gregory Chauvet, Managing Director, The Bike Station
Norman Armstrong, Managing Director, Freewheel North
Friends of the River Kelvin
Glasgow Regional Outdoor Woodland Learning
GOW Community