Note on a Meeting Between Broomhill Community Council, Thornwood Community Council and Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability held at City Chambers September 2024
Roy Hamdy and Hector Rufrancos attended a meeting with the Neighbourhood Regeneration and Sustainability (NRS) Department at Glasgow City Council regarding the introduction of the RPZ that will cover Broomhill and Thornwood. The meeting focused on the preliminary plans that had been circulated to us, which were described as “conversation starters.” At this stage the community councils have been requested to not circulate these designs to the wider community. The NRS team was looking for feedback on any practical issues we identified in the current proposals. They will take this feedback, make revisions, and aim to have something ready for public consultation by November. However, there is another consultation scheduled for the same timeline concerning a roundabout redesign. As a result, there is a possibility that the RPZ consultation could be delayed to avoid overlapping with the roundabout consultation.
One major change is that NRS has decided not to hold any roadshows for the RPZ consultation, a departure from past practice. This decision was made after the Dennistoun RPZ roadshow, where NRS staff faced verbal abuse. As such, our RPZ consultation will proceed without any roadshows, and local input will be gathered through an online and paper survey which will run for six weeks. The NRS team hopes to complete the consultation and implement the RPZ by summer 2026. The actual work of lining the roads and implementing the changes will take several months.
The proposed plans include the introduction of one-way systems in many areas due to the narrowness of the roads. Without these one-way systems, it would not be possible to fit the industry-standard sized parking spaces while maintaining two-way traffic. While this approach allows for maximised parking, the community will need to decide whether it prefers one-way systems or reduced parking with two-way traffic. The size of the parking spaces is non-negotiable, as they are prescribed by their road design guide (within certain tolerances).
Concerns were raised about the impact of the one-way systems on emergency services, but NRS reassured us that emergency services, will be among the first to comment on the proposals before the general consultation. Their input will be taken into account, so this isn’t something the community needs to worry about at this stage.
For the Beachwood area, there was discussion around parking in the back lanes. While parking in back lanes has been allowed in some areas, such as the Hyndland, this practice is being phased out due to changes in the bin collection schedule, which has moved to a rolling eight-day service. NRS is currently reviewing the situation to determine what can be done for the Beachwood back lane specifically.
Additionally, NRS has expressed a willingness to incorporate previous feedback. Roy Hamdy will be resubmitting his plans, and I will be sending in the proposals we have on the Broomhill Community Council Website. NRS will review these plans to see what is feasible, and I will also submit the road-related feedback from the Local Place Plan for their consideration. This is a good opportunity to align their road plans with broader community input.
However, one challenge we face is the siloed nature of the NRS teams. The roads team will not be liaising with the Liveable Neighbourhoods team, and they are unlikely to coordinate with the redesign of the Thornwood roundabout. NRS explained that they have been discouraged from collaborating across teams due to past delays in other projects, which led to complaints. While this is disappointing, it seems unlikely we will be able to change their approach.
Concerns about the rat run at Randolph, which were raised in the Local Place Plan, have also been communicated to NRS. They will take these into consideration, while still balancing community feedback with their goal of maximising parking.
One critical point to note is that once the parking boxes are drawn, any area outside of these boxes will essentially act as double yellow lines, meaning no parking will be allowed outside the designated spaces. This makes the design and placement of these boxes especially important. Furthermore, features like cycle hoop bicycle shelters will be marked as parking spaces on the maps. This doesn’t mean the shelters are being removed, but it allows for flexibility in the future. If the shelter ever needs to be relocated, the space could then be converted into a parking space, and another parking space could be removed elsewhere to maintain balance. Without this provision, the boxes would become fixed and impossible to adjust later.
Finally, it should be noted that only current developments will be eligible for the plan. So for example any new housing anywhere in the area, such as that proposed in the former bowling site is excluded and residents will not be eligible to buy parking permits.