Commitment to opening all 170 venues
GLASGOW City Council has committed to re-opening all community venues as soon as funding and Covid-19 guidance allows. The city’s Labour group secured support from the Greens and the Tories to pass a motion which called for any plans to close buildings to be “immediately halted”.
A letter will be sent to the Scottish Government “demanding further funding” to protect venues.
Archie Graham, Labour’s culture spokesman, said he was delighted his motion, amended by the Greens, had passed “despite the objections of this SNP minority administration”.
“Communities rely on these local facilities,” he said. “They are crucial to our city’s recovery from the pandemic.
“The local campaigns that have been set up around the city are proof of that, and proof that they are beloved by Glaswegians.”
Graham, a former chair of Glasgow Life, which runs cultural and sporting venues for the council, added: “Today’s vote should put even greater pressure on this SNP government to stump up the cash and save Glasgow’s venues.”
The SNP put forward an amendment to the motion, but it was not accepted by Labour and lost out in a vote.
Bailie Annette Christie of the SNP said: “When the new SNP administration came into power in 2017, we inherited a maintenance repair backlog with works estimated at hundreds of millions of pounds.
“That wilful neglect by the previous administration directly led to the delay in the opening of some of our libraries mentioned today.”
She said the People Make Glasgow Communities programme, which allows community groups to take over the running of venues, is a “radical” approach to community empowerment.
The motion stated decisions over the future of venues “must be transparent and democratically accountable”.
Councillors agreed to invite representatives from Save Glasgow Libraries, Glasgow Against Closures, local campaigns and relevant trade unions to speak at a council meeting.
Council leader Susan Aitken said: “I have no doubt about the sincerity that Labour members and other opposition members have when they talk about how precious these venues are.
“We feel the same way, which is precisely why we have moved so quickly to put a support and rescue plan for Glasgow Life in place. We did not invent this pandemic and we cannot magic its impact away.”
She added: “The reality is that the financial model of Glasgow Life even before the pandemic was one that was problematic.
“Over the years, community centres and libraries, vital community services, were put into Glasgow Life and were left relying on the income from sport.”
She said that model was not sustainable.