General Meeting 1st of June 2026

Govan Community Council
Minutes for General Meeting 1st of June 2026
7pm at Maslow’s Community Hub, 94 Langlands Rd, Glasgow, G51 3BQ

1. Attendance and Apologies
   Attending: Claire Dickson (Chair), Willie Jones (Vice-Chair/Treasurer), Greg Easton (Secretary), Madeleine Skeoch, Gina Preston, Robert Preston, Danny O’Neill, Esme Clark, Anne Melvin, Douglas McDonald, Zevon Rustom, Cllr. Richard Bell, John Foster (Remotely)

2. Community Council Administration
   1. Approval of Minutes from May
      Approval given by Madeleine Skeoch and seconded by Esme Clark.
   2. Membership Update
      An update was given on an Associate Member who had not attended meetings recently, they have moved for work reasons. The Secretary will coordinate with them to ensure transition plans are in place for the digital assets that they put a lot of hard work into for us.
   3. AGM Preparation
      With the Annual General Meeting (AGM) due in October and no meeting in August, a reminder was given to the meeting about it. AGM is a perfect opportunity to hold Interim Elections, with the aim of increasing membership. It was agreed that this would be undertaken, the Secretary will contact Glasgow CC.
3. Reports

   1. Elected Officials
      Dr Zubir Ahmed MP (Represented by Zevon Rustom)
      Zevon Rustom provided an update on Dr. Ahmed’s resignation as Health Innovation and Safety Minister. Dr. Ahmed will now serve as a backbench MP, a decision prompted by constituent feedback and a loss of confidence in the Prime Minister. In this capacity, he is no longer bound by collective responsibility and intends to utilize Early Day Motions to support his constituents.

      A question was asked if Dr Ahmed would be more available to come to meetings. The issue is we hold our meetings on a Monday, Parliament in session typically on a Monday to Wednesday. Zevon’s role in Dr Ahmed’s staff is to be available to attend these meetings, which he has been doing very often.

      For Govan Fire Station, Dr Ahmed will be meeting with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service this month to discuss it with them on our behalf. No decision has been made as of yet, as it was on hold until after the Scottish Parliament election. The Govan Fair Cup was presented by Dr Ahmed, congratulations to Craigton Primary and St Saviours Primary and well done to the organisers, volunteers and families who made it possible.

   2. Councillor Richard Bell
      At our previous meeting, concerns were raised about the surface of the Basketball Court at the Drive Road side of the park. Officers have attended, completed an inspection and plan to resurface the court in the next few weeks.

      Christmas 2026 is already in the planning stage. The tree has been underwhelming in recent years and plans are underway to improve the presentation for the area. Funding has been allocated from the Neighbourhood Improvement Funds (NIF) to install extra lighting. While other areas in the city use Business Improvement Districts, such as Shawlands and Byres Road/Lanes, we will likely need it to be voluntary. Businesses in the area are being contacted, sourcing donations. Organisations in the area are being engaged with the goal of a proper switch on event. It is all underway at present.

      Lyceum Development Trust has secured some, but not a huge amount of National Lottery Heritage Funding. They have reached Stage 2 out of 5 for the Community Ownership process, which means the Trust has First Refusal. While good in principle, it still requires capital to match offers. The goal remains to proceed to Part 5, meaning it is sold to the Trust at Assessor’s valuation. The Trust needs more volunteers and assistance from a wider skillset, in areas such as Community Liaison, Finance, Legal and more. The Electoral Roll issues that may appear in Stage 5 were discussed again.

   3. Correspondence
      Correspondence received was shared with the meeting. This covered the information received from Jim Ellis regarding the deep clean of Crossloan Road on the 2nd of June and the planned Bin Hub Community Engagement.

   4. Area Partnership Meeting
      Madeleine attended the remote meeting held by the Govan Area Partnership, where funding was granted to the Old Govan Fair SCIO. There were no other matters discussed.

   5. Planning & Licensing
      No new applications or licensing items received. Additional objections to the installation of screens by the current Lyceum owner were submitted by others in the community.

4. New Items

   1. Govan Letter Planning
      The next edition of the Govan Letter should be planned to be produced around the time of the AGM in October, therefore will need to have the publication ready 5 weeks before that. Aiming to have it at the printers by the end of August. Funding models were discussed and possible organisations and people we can contact.

      A broad theme is always welcome to focus the publication, and various topics were discussed. Willie Jones will be taking an increasing role into leading the production, with John Foster’s assistance.

      Options for distribution were covered, alongside a reminder that we have new MSPs at constituency and regional levels. Was decided to leave the focus for the publication solely within the Govan CC zone, and not include other CC’s.

   2. Glasgow Community Council Network
      Additional information has been received from an organisation now called the Glasgow Community Councils Network (originally Federation) about what the groups aims are, what others knew about it and our outstanding offer to join. After much discussion about the merits and drawbacks of such an organisation, it was agreed that we join and nominate the Chair and Secretary as members. The secretary will communicate with GCCN.

5. Existing Matters

   1. Christmas 2026
      This topic was covered extensively during Cllr Bell’s report.

   2. Govan Fire Station Updates
      This topic was covered during the report from Dr Ahmed MP’s representative.

   3. Friends of Elder Park & Community Updates
      Willie Jones is happy with the work done so far in the park in terms of maintenance, a never ending task. The grass needs to be cut more regularly and FoEP does not have a lawnmower and needs more volunteers. The grass in the Rose Garden is not being cut when the rest of the park is, could be an equipment issue - Cllr. Bell will look into it.

      Support for the Rose Garden to be finished and maintained is the key task at present.

6. AOCB or Questions
   1. Co-Operative Funeralcare
      The meeting was made aware that the Co-Operative Funeralcare Factory Site on Bogmoor Road is closing. Those in the meeting are aware of people who have been working there for 38 years, and now there are plans to close it by the end of September.
      This led onto a discussion around work and employment issues, university route versus vocational route. Having businesses employ and train local people in Glasgow South West has been a key focus of work done by Dr Ahmed MP. Work done with Trades Days, speaking to local colleges, explaining pathways into trades and working with local large businesses to focus on employing local people, especially School Leavers.
7. Date of Next Meeting
   The next meeting will be set for Monday 6th of July 2026 at 7pm in the same location. It will be our last meeting before Summer Recess.