Item 5 Glasgow City Council 22nd March 2018 City Centre Administration Committee Report by Councillor Kenny McLean, City Convener for Neighbourhoods, Housing and Public Realm Contact: Richard Brown Ext: 76000 GLASGOW CITY CENTRE LANE STRATEGY ACTION PLAN 2018/19 – 2022/23 Purpose of Report: To update the committee on the outcome of the public consultation and to consider the final version of the City Centre Lane Strategy and Action Plan. Recommendations: It is recommended that Committee: (i) considers the contents of this report; and (ii) approves the City Centre Lane Strategy and Action Plan. Ward No(s): 10 Citywide: Local member(s) advised: Yes No consulted: Yes No PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: Any Ordnance Survey mapping included within this Report is provided by Glasgow City Council under licence from the Ordnance Survey in order to fulfil its public function to make available Council-held public domain information. Persons viewing this mapping should contact Ordnance Survey Copyright for advice where they wish to licence Ordnance Survey mapping/map data for their own use. The OS web site can be found at <http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk> " If accessing this Report via the Internet, please note that any mapping is for illustrative purposes only and is not true to any marked scale 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Members will recall that the draft City Centre Lane Strategy was approved by the Executive Committee on 16 March 2017 to proceed to public consultation. 1.2 The purpose of this report is to update the committee after consideration at the Neighbourhoods, Housing & Public Realm Committee in January 2018 on the outcome of the public consultation, and to seek formal approval of the final version of the City Centre Lane Strategy and its Action Plan. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 Members will be aware that the City Centre Strategy 2014-19 (CCS) went live in April 2014. The development of this Strategy has been underpinned by stakeholder engagement and the development of an evidence base, with involvement across the Council family as well as from key city centre business sectors, the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, local transport bodies, further/higher education institutes, local residents and community groups. This inclusive approach has continued on a project-specific basis as the Strategy has been implemented. 2.2 The CCS has a wide range of over 50 actions to be delivered over the strategy period that will contribute to its six strategic objectives. In relation to this project, the key CCS objective is “the centre to stay and live”. This objective specifically aims to “promote the greening of the city through the provision of quality landscaping and environments”. A secondary objective is “the centre to visit and enjoy”. This specifically aims to continually enhance the visitor experience, and promote attractiveness and manage perceptions. 2.3 While there are examples of lanes being transformed into successful public spaces, many others have not benefitted from such investment, and associated wider benefits that ultimately increase footfall and drive economic growth. This partly relates to the range of negative characteristics that can concentrate in laneways, such as anti-social behaviour, poor physical environments, uneven surfaces, unauthorised parking, and excessive numbers of commercial bins. 2.4 A comprehensive City Centre Lane Strategy has therefore been developed with stakeholders and the public, and this proposes a series of demonstration/action projects and strategic initiatives. This report outline the results of the public consultation and the next steps for the Strategy. 3. PUBLIC CONSULTATION 3.1 Public consultation on the draft Lane Strategy was undertaken between April and June 2017. The council received 408 responses from the online survey, and this established strong support for the various proposals. The key findings are summarised below: a. A clear majority found that the draft strategy was easy to read, easy to follow and comprehensive; 2 b. Over 90% of respondents used the lanes within the city centre; c. Over 90% of the respondents are members of the public; d. The vast majority of respondents agreed with the strategic interventions proposed. The highest level of agreement was for the interventions relating to arts and culture at 89%; e. 88% of the respondents felt that the Lane Activation Fund would have a positive impact on the development of lanes and their increased use; f. There was also considerable focus on the need to address the provision for waste/recycling and public health and community safety. These scored 75% and 84% respectively; g. Support for the development of new initiatives was tempered by the perceived need to resolve cleanliness and safety issues first; h. There was significant support for the proposed changes to planning guidance (84%) and consensus that this would improve the lanes (88%); 3.2 Over 70% of respondents agreed with the draft Strategy’s Implementation Plan. This rose to 92% when respondents who selected the “neither/nor” option (neither agree nor disagree) are included. 3.3 In terms of the Action Projects, the following responses were generated: Priority Location Agree N/N Disagree 1. Sauchiehall: Wellington Street to Renfield Street 88% 9% 3% 2. Renfield Lane/ Drury St/ Gordon Lane/ Mitchell Lane 86% 11% 3% 3. Sauchiehall Lane: BID Area 85% 11% 4% 4. Sauchiehall Lane: Willow Tearooms 84% 12% 4% 5. Springfield Court/McCormack Lane/Princes Court/Royal Exchange 83% 14% 3% Square/North Court Lane 6. Tontine Lane and Elmbank Gardens 83% 13% 4% 7. Garnethill: Buccleuch Lane - Dalhousie Lane 78% 16% 6% 3.4 Following review of the public consultation outcomes, and noting the broad support for the proposed priorities and actions the City Centre Lane Strategy Action Plan has been further developed in the following areas: 3 (i) The emphasis on changes to waste management and public safety has been strengthened and given the city centre-wide roll-out of the commercial waste project, this will include monitoring and enforcement of publicly accessible lanes to ensure compliance; (ii) Where possible, links will be developed with the wider commercial sector, such as advertising, marketing and property agents, to ensure maximum optimisation of benefits; (iii) The potential of the lanes to be an asset used by the creative industries will be strengthened by effectively integrating them into existing city-wide networks. Discussions with Glasgow Life and Creative Scotland have already started to map shared ambitions; (iv) Given the strength of responses with regards to the Planning guidance section, the development of related proposals will be given greater priority, particularly those in relation to active frontages and spaces, waste/recycling, maintenance and security, public access, and built heritage. (v) The Action Projects will be progressed in line with the Strategy’s recommendations. Seven areas were selected through engagement with businesses, entrepreneurs and community groups. These locations present an opportunity to demonstrate how specific aspects of the Lane Strategy could be implemented, and the initial period will focus on developing each lane’s project plan in collaboration with local lane stakeholders; (vi) The Strategic Interventions will also be progressed in line with the Strategy’s recommendations. These eight thematic areas (excluding Planning which will be dealt with separately) each present either challenge or opportunity for the city centre lanes. A proposal will be developed for each thematic area, and this may cover one or more lanes. 3.5 A copy of the finalised City Centre Lane Strategy can be provided on request, or there is a link at Appendix 1 to this report. There are no material changes to the consultation copy. 4. ACTION PLAN 4.1 A summary five year action plan is provided at Appendix 2 to this report. The action plan has been structured around the key sections of the Strategy and its proposed Implementation Plan: Planning policy Strategic and Operational Interventions Action (Demonstrator) Projects (timelines are flexible and activity will be determined largely by the involvement of third parties: lane owners and businesses) Promotion of Initiatives Lane Activation Fund 4 4.2 However it is important to realise that the effective delivery of this Strategy and Action Plan is not entirely within the gift of the Council. This is largely due to the ownership position in lanes which can be complex and multi-faceted. The Council’s role within this Strategy is focused upon enabling activity and improvements, and undertaking demonstration projects directly to illustrate the potential opportunity. Delivering this will rely on the support of parties with an ownership interest in the lanes. Without such support, progress in areas of the Lane Strategy could be negatively impacted, however the response to the consultation indicates broad support for this strategy and this will be built upon as the project progresses in order to achieve the best outcomes for the city centre. 4.3 The scale and scope of interventions will be dependent on available funding, and initial costs for all projects will be covered by the City Centre Strategy 2014- 19 budget and where appropriate, City Centre City Deal, however given the collaborative approach required to successfully implement this Action Plan, work will also include the exploration of alternative funding sources and delivery mechanisms within the local community. This will be assessed during the development period of the projects.