Glasgow High Street plan criticised by business owners

However, those heading up a project to revitalise the city's oldest, medieval street say tourists could be forgiven for thinking they have arrived "at the edge of the world".

The area is home to some of the city's most important heritage buildings including the Toll Booth, which was built in 1726 and housed the town hall, court and jail.

However, business owners say shop closures  -12 in recent years -  neglected buildings and crime have turned High Street into a no-go zone.

Now, a team of architects, who have informed regeneration projects in London, are hoping to change that by assisting council planners in an action plan to revitalise the historic area.

High Street Heritage is being led by New Practice, is led by Marc Cairns and Becca Thomas, who have previously sat on the Mayor of London's urban design panel.

They are hoping the brand name for the project, 'Mon the High Street' will appeal to Glaswegians and their propensity to champion the underdog.

However, not all business owners were enthusiastic about the project. When asked what the priorities should be, Louise Lawn, a Glasgow School of Art graduate who runs vintage clothing firm Frida and Coco, said: "Where do I start?"

She is critical of the council's Meanwhile Spaces project, which saw 11 vacant shop units on High Street and Saltmarket handed over to clients working in the creative industries for rents of around 7p a month. She said many of the businesses further up had accrued rent debt due to heavy losses incurred during the pandemic.

She said:  "How about giving us a year of free rent? We don't need cheap marketing slogans, we need action - it's insulting. 

"Another problem is the shops that are getting given away for rents of 7p a month.

"There is a link to Susan Aitken giving one to her husband, which really sticks in peoples' craws - that's just sheer nepotisim (Susan Aitken was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Standards Commission last year). The fact we pay £7000 and they pay 70p...

"It's not the students personally, you can't take it out on them but for me, for Glasgow's oldest medieval street, it definitely feels like it's slightly forgotten.

"It is a bit embarrassing that there are 12 empty units."

She said the loss of a long running cafe (McCune Smith) which attracted people from the city's west end had crippled passing trade and criticised a decision to smash up a 115-year-old mosaic in her building "which had a couple of missing pieces" rather than repairing it.

"People on Facebook said they would have restored it for free. I don't think the council always operate in the most intelligent way."

In May, family-run butchers The Country Shop - the only one in Glasgow city centre - was destroyed by a fire.

The architects heading up the project admit the area has "ongoing challenges".

Mr Cairns said: "Right now, it feels very much that if you were a tourist you get to High Street and it feels like it's the edge of the world. How do we make it feel like the centre?

"We have been really clear with the council that there is no point in re-paving the high street if there is no one to walk on it. 

"There are ongoing challenges around the maintenance of buildings and crime, traffic - all these things make it a difficult place to run a business. 

"What we have been doing for the past few months is in-depth analysis to understand the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities.

"The strategy we put together by the end of the year will inform the council's decision on future investment."

A public engagement event is being held today that will feature a suite of work by Fife-born photographer Thomas Annan, who in 1868  began his series of thirty-one photographs of the closes and wynds. 

Old Vennel, off High Street, was one of the worst urban slums in Britain and the series is acknowledged as the first record of slum housing in the history of photography.

Mr Cairns said a number of planned developments in the area will improve the 'flow-through' of traffic to High Street. Saturday's pop-up event at 19 Saltmarket, will also include walking tours and shop promotions, which the team hope will encourage people to take a closer look at what High Street has to offer.

"We want to change it from somewhere you walk through to get to somewhere else."

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The High Street Area Strategy aims to realise the economic, social and cultural potential of the area in a number of ways, and the events on 23 October will focus on the rich heritage of Glasgow’s oldest district, an area with a 1500-year history which has played such a significant role in the life of our city.  

"Such events remind Glaswegians and our visitors of the unique attractions of the area, and increase interest as we move towards raising footfall and spend levels on the businesses along the High Street and Saltmarket.”