Why is Govan turning into a jobless ghetto of crime and drugs?
NEWS SPECIAL: People being left behind by regeneration says community
Stewart Paterson, The Evening Times (Glasgow), June 24, 2004
Community leaders in Govan have asked the Scottish Parliament to investigate a lack of affordable housing in the area, claiming a focus on commercial developments is eating up scarce housing land and killing the community. STEWART PATERSON reports on the changing nature of Govan.
GOVAN has changed dramatically over recent decades. The shipyards are now a mere skeleton of the mammoth industry which once provided work for thousands of men.
Streets of tenement housing have been razed to the ground and little but unemployment, crime and drugs have thrived since industrial decline hit.
Shops lie empty, schools have closed and large tracts of waste ground blight the area.
In recent years, initiatives have worked hard to regenerate the area and Govan has been the focus of many high profile developments on the back of Clydeside regeneration schemes.
An Industrial Corridor at Helen Street, the Science Centre and Pacific Quay all form part of the plan to lift the area.
But the strategy isn't working, according to some in the community who claim local Govan people are being left behind and shut out from any benefits regeneration has brought.
A delegation including the local city councillor, community councillor and a local solicitor, took their case to the Scottish Parliament's petitions committee yesterday calling for urgent action to halt the decline.
Community councillor John Foster said: "Instead of repopulating the area with affordable housing, Glasgow City Council and Govan Initiative Ltd have secured considerable amounts of European development cash to build industrial units and offices.
"This strategy has created a vast industrial estate, which is transforming Govan into a poverty-stricken ghetto."
Mike Dailly, of the Govan Law Centre, said: "Govan is supposed to be prospering from high-profile developments with the regeneration of the waterfront.
"But the population has fallen by more than 20% in the last 10 years alone and 51% of adults in the area are out of work. This is more than double the Glasgow average.
"Industrial units are being built at the expense of affordable housing. Another 200,000 sq ft is being developed, but half of the existing units are unoccupied."
Land around the Helen Street area cleared of poor quality housing has been the centre of a debate over its usage.
The city council agreed to change its usage from residential to commercial to attract firms into the area.
The community council objected but lost out, claiming the planning process was stacked against it.
Petitioners claim Govan Initiative has taken housing land and used it for commercial purposes, but Govan people do not get jobs because firms relocating from outside bring their workers with them.
Councillor John Flanagan is concerned that commercial interests are being put ahead of the needs of Govan folk.
He said: "Govan is a proud community dating back to the 5th century and is determined to ensure that homes and social facilities are placed before industrial sheds."
A spokesman for Govan Initiative said: "We aim to breathe new life into the area, creating a place where people want to live, learn and work."
He pointed to official figures showing jobless claimants falling from 32% in 1986 to 8.5% in 2003 and a business survival rate of 90% up from 37% in 1986.
A flat at Festival Park will cost in the region of £ 150,000 upwards, but locals say there is no housing for those who can only dream of new luxury waterfront properties.
Mother-of-one Jessie Black, 38, lives in Teucharhill and has seen many families move out.
She said: "I have lived here 25 years and it was a good place to live, vibrant and alive. But it has changed.
"I am on the school board at St Anthony's Primary which has capacity for 400 pupils but now only has 130. This year the primary one intake is only 11."
She fears primary schools will not survive, putting a question mark over the local secondary school, Govan High.
Mr Dailly added: "If the schools had to close it would be the final nail in the coffin."
stewart.paterson@eveningtimes.co.uk