Community councils are being made to feel like a “nuisance” by the local authority, it has been claimed.
Frank Plowright, chair of Dennistoun Community Council, says there was “decent” communication with Glasgow City Council until around 2024.
However, the communication has worsened since then.
Frank told the Glasgow Times: "We didn’t always get the answers we wanted or the policies, but there was meaningful consultation and an effort to find out what local people wanted.
"But increasingly, that has disappeared with policies being imposed alongside something that could be justified as consultation, but when you look more closely, it isn’t consultation in any meaningful definition of the term."
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Frank, who has been involved with the community council since 2011, says the issues started when two long-serving officials who were liaisons for community councils throughout Glasgow retired, with Freedom of Information requests even having to be submitted to obtain answers.
He explained: "For example, there were rumours of a change to planning procedures, and the community council was unsure about this and wanted some clarification.
"Our emails were just ignored, and in the end, I had to put in a Freedom of Information request to get this information, only to discover there had been no change.
"Why couldn’t we just have been told that?
"It’s indicative of a culture of secrecy and obfuscation within Glasgow City Council."
Frank continued: "It’s in keeping with a policy where the council is keen to pay lip service to the idea of community councils but in practice finds them a nuisance they could do without.
"If there’s an opportunity to promote 50 years of community councils with a special occasion at the City Chambers and get some good publicity, then they’ll put something on.
"However, when it comes to actually meaningfully discussing things with community councils, the impression I constantly get is we’re a nuisance they can’t be bothered with."
As a result of the issues with communication, Frank decided to take steps to set up the Glasgow Community Council Federation about a year ago, with 21 community councils currently involved.
At a meeting held last year, he found many other groups were experiencing the same issues with communication.
Frank is currently interim chair, though the Federation will be officially formed at the end of this month with a vote to agree on the chairperson and constitution.
While no official constitution has been agreed upon yet, he is hopeful it will allow the city’s community councils to "negotiate in strength" while also sharing information with each other.
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He said: "I feel something needs to change and it’s not going to change from within the council.
"Their priority in every respect, even if they’re not going to admit it, is to save money.
"It’s very easy to dismiss Dennistoun Community Council on its own.
"It’s equally easy to dismiss Swinton, Anderston, or Langside community councils.
"I feel Glasgow needs a unification of community councils, so that’s why we have formed what will be known as the Glasgow Community Council Federation."
Frank added: "I feel services for Glasgow could be run a whole lot better, even with the current financial constraints, by legitimately talking to the people representing communities rather than paying lip service to it."
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council says they welcome the formation of the federation.
They said: “We have written to the group to say that we welcome this approach and agree this will have a positive impact on our communities.
“We look forward to receiving the group’s terms of reference which will base the start of a discussion on how everyone can work together with a common aim of helping Glaswegians.”
Any community councils interested in joining the Glasgow Community Council Federation should contact glasgowccf@gmail.com.
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