A campaign has been launched to turn the disused land between Clouston Street and Kelbourne Street in Glasgow’s Maryhill area into a community-run, multi-use green space to be called the North Kelvin Meadow. The campaign was launched after Glasgow City Council rejected out-of-hand the results of a survey, conducted by local resident Douglas Peacock, which revealed that local people overwhelming supported the creation on a green space on the land.

Glasgow City Council wants to sell the land to a property developer for the building of 115 flats. However, 100% of local residents responding to the community survey said they would prefer a green space.

This area Glasgow is already densely populated because most of the housing is flats. A community-run green space as proposed by the North Kelvin Meadow Campaign would allow local people to have access to allotments, a small wood and a wild meadow area.

The Scottish Government recently indicated that it wanted more space to be made available for allotments and there is a long waiting list for allotments in Glasgow. The local authority umbrella body Colsa has said that it agrees with the Scottish Government’s view.

“We are happy to see the Scottish Government taking an interest in promoting the provision of allotments. We look forward to working in partnership with the government to consider how best this can be achieved,” a spokesman said. (Click here to read the story from the BBC.)

It’s hard, therefore, to understand why Glasgow City Council is opposing a proposal that has generated so much enthusiasm among local residents.