Plan for new park under motorway renewed
New Scottish Labour leader Sarwar sets out stall
SKATEBOARDERS and other urban sports enthusiasts are eyeing dead space under a busy motorway for a park.
Glasgow Urban Sports (GUS) has renewed a project which would see vacant land under the M74 at Port Eglinton being turned into a public park designed for skating, BMX and parkour.
The group has launched a public survey to build a business case for the “urban park” which they hope will see skateboarding ramps and other structures installed on the site.
Neil Davidson, chair of GUS, said the park would be open to all: “There has been a boom of people – particularly girls and young women – getting into skateboarding since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
“If you have kids, you’ll likely have a scooter, a skateboard or a BMX in the house, so going to the skate park to get some exercise is something pretty much everyone can do.”
The group launched the project eight years ago but there has been no movement on it in that time.
Mr Davidson said: “We hired a professional fundraiser and they said you need to have a survey to get the numbers to show people’s interest in the park, so that is what we are doing to get the authorities on board.”
He sees the park as being not just a space where skaters, bikers and free-runners can play, but as a potential attraction in a run-down part of town.
He added: “The idea is that it would be a place that everyone can come. There are also two cycle lanes either side of the site, so our park can create a connecting corridor between the two routes.
“Because would be covered by the motorway, it’s always going to be dry and we will want free to use.” it it to be
The project is still in its very early stages and Mr Davidson urged residents to respond to the survey to make the case for the park.
It is not clear to whom the land belongs but Transport Scotland, which oversaw the construction of the viaduct under which the park would be built, was approached for comment.
FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon should resign as a matter of principle if she is found to have broken the ministerial code, the new Scottish Labour leader said.
Glasgow MSP Anas Sarwar won his contest against Monica Lennon to replace Richard Leonard as the party leader, securing 57% of the vote, with the result announced on Saturday.
The new leader believes Sturgeon would expect a minister, if it were a Labour government, to go if they had breached the code.
An investigation carried out by James Hamilton QC is under way into whether Sturgeon breached the code over when she first knew about the harassment claims against former first minister Alex Salmond and when she told Parliament she first knew.
She referred herself for investigation but said she does not think she broke the code.
The First Minister has said: “The most appropriate place for me to be questioned about these matters is in front of the parliamentary committee.”
Sturgeon will give her evidence to the committee into the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment complaints against Salmond on Wednesday.
The Scottish Government conceded the judicial review into the investigation of Mr Salmond, which Judge Lord Pentland said was “tainted with apparent bias”.
Sarwar was giving interviews in his first full day in the new job as leader.
He said: “If there is a minister, forget who the minister is or what political party they are from, if a minister is found to have breached the ministerial code, I think people would expect that minister to resign,
“That’s what Nicola Sturgeon would say if it was a Labour politician, a Conservative politician or a LibDem politician, so let’s take the party politics out of it – it’s a point of principle.”
On whether or not the First Minister should step down, Sarwar said: “Yes, I think Nicola Sturgeon herself would say that if an opposition politician was in government and they’d breached the ministerial code, they would be expected to resign.”
Sarwar said Scottish Labour had a mountain to climb going into the election in May, polling well and SNP.
He added: “The most recent poll had us on 14%. I think we’re fighting for our survival, I think we’re fighting for relevance in Scotland, I think we’re fighting to be a credible opposition.
“I hope that having got ourselves back on the pitch and off our knees we can build the five years that follow to make ourselves not just a credible opposition, but a credible alternative so we can have a Labour government in the future.” behind the
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