General Meeting 7th of September 2026

Govan Community Council
Minutes for General Meeting 7th of September 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), Dan Hutchison, Jim Ellis, Katy Donnelly, Gina Preston, Robert Preston, John Foster, Anne Melvin, Esme Clark, Madeleine Skeoch, Zevon Rustom, Imran Alam, Danny O’Neill, Richard Bell, Chris McCarten (FoEP)

2. Approval of Minutes
   A correction will be made to minutes sent out to members, it was a simple spelling error in an attendee’s name. This will be corrected and the minutes were approved by Madeleine Skeoch and Claire Dickson.

3. CC Administration

   1. Bank Account Access
      Willie Jones updated the meeting on the issues with gaining access over the bank account from the previous treasurer. The reasons given and the next steps agreed were arranged between the Treasurer and Secretary, with approval from the meeting and further discussions will be off table.

      We will apply for a new mandate to RBS, keeping Esme Clark on the mandate, adding Willie Jones and Greg Easton as signatories.

      Paperwork gained from the previous Treasurer shows a balance of approximately £2300 in our accounts, so we are in a healthy position.

   2. Interim Election
      The secretary advised the meeting that arrangements have been made to have Interim Elections coinciding with our AGM. It was stressed that having firm dates and the process underway is vital, as the AGM will be upon us very soon.

      The secretary agreed and will keep on top of his contacts in Glasgow City Council, who are responsible for arrangements, public notifications, and certification.

      Plans for advertising and publication of the vacancies were arranged and discussed.

4. Reports

   1. Elected Officials and Others
      Imran Alam (Councillor)
      Mr Alam provided insight to the planning application that was rejected to install the BT Street Hub. The committee was not against the installation of the hub, just the location chosen. Will provide further insight during that topic.
      Mr Alam has received communication from the current owner of The Lyceum regarding issues related to the Bin Hub outside of the building. Issues related to items not being placed in the bin, which he has since actioned and hasn’t heard back. But this falls under the wider issue of bags being careless behaviour related to the bin hubs.

      Finally, there have been issues of Bin Hubs being damaged, but there are reports due shortly regarding lessons learned and processes for what is still technically a pilot scheme. Others raised that the level of waste on streets is significantly less than previous long standing issues for waste build up in back courts. Jim Ellis from NRS advised of processes underway and what some of the lessons learned are.

      Zevon Rustom (Representing Dr Zubir Ahmed MP)
      Zevon gave updates from Dr Ahmed and his team over the past two months. On the previous Sunday they joined Friends of Elder Park (FoEP) on the work around Mrs Elder’s statue. There is still 3 tonnes of material left to move and they are working out a date to re-attend and help get it finished, possibly a Friday afternoon for the whole office to attend. They also agreed to offer support for the fire that was recently set to the storage container.

      The John Smith Project will be working with Govan High School as the main partner, along with other schools in Glasgow South West Constituency. The project works with the University of Glasgow offering Modern Studies students Q\&As with politicians, Holyrood visits, and explaining the role of politics in life. Their office will hopefully have further updates this week should anyone be looking for more information.

      The Google Digital Garage event was attended by over 40 local businesses for free skills training. Elderpark Street has undergone a dramatic transformation with the pavements fixed, and bollards moved. Additionally, the pilot scheme of the market at Govan Cross is underway and it is in place until December 2026. Plus, his office has been offering support to GYIP in obtaining a vehicle. Finally, Coffee Morning on Saturday 19th, reach out for further information.

      Cllr. Dan Hutchison
      Updates were given on previous matters. Firstly, regarding the changes to the pelican crossings throughout the city - this has been down to a change in the Highway Code and a believed improvement for those with disabilities. Some in the meeting remain unhappy with the change, but it is unlikely anything we will have influence over.

      Police have not attended our meetings, upon inquiry it appears to have been due to a misunderstanding about what date our meetings were held. The meeting would welcome a representative from Police Scotland. Lastly, Play Parks surveys have been completed for Elder Park and are ongoing for Festival Park.

      Cllr. Richard Bell
      Following a recent meeting of the Govan Area Partnership, funding has been allocated to parks and a request is outstanding for the total sums allocated to each park and timescales for the upgrades to be completed. This matter will be monitored to ensure the upgrades are completed as soon as possible.

      Progress has been made on the Christmas Lights for Govan. Neighbourhood Infrastructure & Investment Fund has been used to allocate funding for additional installations this year to make the square more of an event, as opposed to previous years being an undecorated tree. This should improve the area without taking money from the standard Area Partnership pot used to support local organisations.

      Regarding Glasgow City Council financial news, it has been exaggerated in the press according to Cllr. Bell. The long standing issue of Equal Pay Settlements is ongoing, as is the new Pay Grading scheme awaiting approval from Unions, but this part of striking a balance. The other issue was the previously mentioned cost of Homelessness within the city, but discussions are ongoing and further news will be available come end of October.

      Finally, a request was made from the meeting to reinforce the invitation sent to new Glasgow Central MSP Alison Thewliss, Cllr. Bell will pass it on.

      Jim Ellis - NRS
      Jim gave the meeting an update on several matters he has been working on relevant to our area. First, various organisations such as SFRS, Police Scotland, and Scottish Water have been dealing with the approximately 36 incidents of hydrants being recklessly set off. New caps will be installed with a more secure lock, as current ones can be bypassed with tools purchased online. GYIP is also working on outreach for prevention, while Police Scotland are identifying faces for enforcement.

      Several bins were set on fire throughout the ward. Replacements have already been sourced for the Bin Hub on Shaw Street, and the spare bin left behind needs emptied before it can be removed as it was filled up. They are aware and will remove it urgently.

      Gulley cleaning project will start in Govan at the beginning of October, streets involved will be signposted. Issues are balancing the resources, and needing parked cars to be removed. It was suggested that there were a majority of blocked gulleys in the ward, which Jim agreed with. An inquiry was made about the fact that some gulleys are slotted kerbs, as opposed to square drain holes in the road surface - for example, in the Fastlink section of Golspie Street. Jim will look into it.
      Crossloan Road and Elderpark Street remain a multi-agency focus. The pavements on Crossloan Road need resurfaced but this is not likely until 2027, but no firm timetable. Some NIIF funding was allocated to trees and shrubs in the area. He welcomes suggestions as to where trees in the ward could be placed, to which a discussion of different areas followed.

      Finally, the meeting made Jim aware that the Playpark in Elder Park at the Drive Road/Linthouse end has two bars that have been damaged/worn out and are sticking out at a dangerous angle. Cllr. Bell is aware of this and will discuss it with Jim after the meeting.

   2. Planning and Licensing
      There were new applications due to our summer break, and developments on ones we had discussed before. The BT Street Hub was rejected by the planning committee. Councillor Alam advised that the new box was not going to be in the place of the current boxes, which are well past their best. BT may come back with another application, various appeals have also been submitted and discussions remain ongoing. The CC would like to see the old phone boxes removed, regardless of the outcome of any future applications.

      The Taxi Rank at Water Row is scheduled to be removed to add more parking spots, as it is wholly underutilised by Black Taxis. The deadline for support is 21st of September. A Short Term Letting application has been submitted for a property on Kilmaurs Street, no objections from within the room.

5. New & Existing Matters

   1. Govan Letter Planning
      Willie Jones explained the work done for the Govan Letter so far, running through the copy created so far, and sharing ideas for other articles. At the time of the meeting, we had not received the information about our application for an Interim Election. This was received the next day and sent out to all members, but it may not be enough notice for the letter publication with lead times to postage.

   2. GovanHELP
      Katy Donnelly from GovanHELP advised the meeting about the Placemaking Programme they are undertaking. Central Govan and Linthouse have been selected and drop-in sessions are being held in Elderpark Library.

   3. Elder Park - FoEP Storage
      This matter came up at multiple points throughout the meeting. The following is a summary of the points raised throughout the meeting. A recent fire set at the insecure storage container that has long been an issue for Friends of Elder Park, it has damaged all equipment and tools being stored in there. Off-table discussions were held between Dr Ahmed’s team and the FoEP representatives. Support is being arranged, and they may now get access to the boat house.

   4. Social Media
      The Facebook Group “ahcumfaegovan” was brought up again. A brief reminder of the last time it was brought up was given, with praise that the worst of the objectionable content has been removed. This was following a potential closure of the group, before that decision was reversed.

      A member was angered by the choice of photography where a shot of shipyard workers was used alongside a post saying racist, negative things about immigrants to the area and the country. It was queried whether the CC needed to respond, and the prevailing opinion is, we do not. Not because we support this person’s views, there is evidence of Govan Community Council’s support of Refugees and their Right to Work. Because we can’t attack this person, who may be a vulnerable person from other information they have shared. What we can do is implement a model similar to Communities United which was employed against the National Front. These harmful beliefs have been defeated before, we need to learn from the past and have communities that come together and be united against this.

6. AOCB or Questions
   The meeting was running long, so we were unable to take any further questions.

7. Date of Next Meeting
   The next meeting was set for October 5th 2026 at 7pm in Maslow’s Community Hub. This will be our Annual General Meeting.