Canal

[hazy]

The new canal connection at Payne Street beside the M8 seems to me like alost cause. Surely some kind of market research had to be done to justify the amount of cash being spent on this project. I cant see any body in there right mind wanting to traveling along a suburban canal in the middle of an area where crime is a way of life. I can just see all the wee neds with their pirate outfits jumping aboard some geezers barge demanding the family silver, singing yo ho ho and a bottle of bukie.

[Dexter St. Clair]

cant see any body in there right mind wanting to traveling along a suburban canal in the middle of an area where crime is a way of life. I can just see all the wee neds with their pirate outfits jumping aboard some geezers barge demanding the family silver, singing yo ho ho and a bottle of bukie.

All canal boats are escorted by a ranger on a bicycle. Some of the neds however are quite big. But is crime really a way of life in Payne Street. Possibly some of the building companies are cowboys but they may prefer to drink in Madness rather than along a canal bank.

[escotregen]

And anyway, even if crime were 'a way of life' in a locality, are we just to it back on our backsides, say "ah well" and just give it over for ever to the anti-social and the criminal? We need to keep up the emphasis on the positive and creative renewal in Glasgow. Not that many years ago the whole of Glasgow was looked upon as a dirty, violent no-go area. We've got over that surely .

Let's get away from the comfort zone of 'you better not try anything, they'll just tear it down .

[Mori]

http://www.thewaterwaystrust.org.uk/artsplan/4.5map.shtml

http://www.glasgowarchitecture.co.uk/port_dundas_speirs_wharf.htm

A fantastic scheme this will be, when did you ever see investment like this in this part of the city? the canal is a fantastic asset to the city lets optomise rather than be full of pesimism for the project.

[hazy]

As a proud Glaswegian I am all for good regeneration and by the look of the computer enhanced images they put up a good case. But and the but is all these projects seem to be geared towards a certain clientel. My point is the money that is being spent on the canal comes from where ? It is not generating enough for long term employment in these areas. Do you honestly belive it will regenert back into the working class area that surrouds this project. I just dont see any future in a canal structure through industrial sites. Will these people have been told about the smell from the bonding warehouse. I think not. What about the small industrial site close by. How long will it be before that is shut for being unsightly.

[viceroy]

All looks very nice.

But I cannot for the life of me figure out where they are going to find enough room on the south bank of the canal to put these flats. It is narrow enough along there as it is and there is a sheer drop on the other side.

Aso, I wonder what the people living on Speirs Wharf think about having their fantastic view blocked....................

[Socceroo]

I think the flats are getting built right on the edge of the slope which should be quite interesting.

The locals in Spiers Wharf objected to the proposal because it blocks their view.

[james73]

All looks very nice.

But I cannot for the life of me figure out where they are going to find enough room on the south bank of the canal to put these flats. It is narrow enough along there as it is and there is a sheer drop on the other side.

They seem to built on the slope:





James H

[Vladimir]

I think building on a slope adds to the whole project, the staircases should be interesting

[DVF]

Why do all these new build luxury flats all look the same? Same crappiness too, they just have no soul.

[swavmcav]

In resposne to Hazy's original post.

Without the re-instatement of the link between the basin at Port Dundas and the Glasgow Branch at Speirs Wharf we would not be seeing the plans for massive investment in the area that we now have. I think that alone proves the worth of the project in financial terms.

In many other ways I find it an exciting project. it opens up a fascinating area to the public. The canal is a fantastic asset. It is full of Glasgow's commercial history. It has wonderful structures like the Kelvin aqueduct and the Marhill lochs. It is used by a great many people including myself for running or cycling to work, walking the dog, fishing etc (as well as drinking if your a ned and I must say I run early in the morning to avoid them. It works most of the time but occasionally you get them coming home from the night before. Not a pretty sight.) You get a different persepctive on the city up there. It's very green almost like running through a park for most of it and I guess that is a way of thinking about it, as a linear park across Scotland.

I think the canal is brill and anything that opens it up for more people to use is well worth it in my book.

At the moment there is potential for a kind of Appocolypse Now incident where some toff on a boat gets hit with brick or sonething (remember when the guy gets speared on the gun boat and can't quite believe it) but the more people that use it, the less likely this is and the more boats there will be using it.

[retired tiger]

As a frequent canal bank walker and cyclist I'm all for this. As for not benefiting everybody, what about all the jobs that have been created by the waterways maintaining the canal and towpath? What about the jobs in actually building the new section, and the jobs building the new houses, we may not like the style but at least somebody's getting a wage.
If you see how English towns have used their old canal side buildings I say this is going to be one of the most exciting developements in the city. Port Dundas will come alive again. When you see how much the Kelvin walkway is used by families, cyclists, walkers etc I take my hat off to the officials who pushed this through. There were plenty of doubters about the canal restoration but when you look at the success of the Falkirk Wheel the project has been vindicated.

[conn75]

Woah, here I go bumping an old thread again (well, there's a lot to catch up on!)...

Firstly, I'm all for regeneration - especially in and around the city centre as this city has for far too long let large areas sit rotting for the neds and the like to use as their personal playground. The more is regenerated, the less they'll be hanging around...

Secondly, I'm definitely for the regeneration of the canal and its banks. I just wish I had the money to live there, although I agree that the smell up at Port Dundas is terrible sometimes, which makes me surprised that people pay good money to live there too.

I see there's been no movement on the block of flats on the other side of Spiers Wharf which was apparently due to start building work in 2006. Anyone got any more info on this?

[Luco]

Not just that end of town, but the route goes through some of the most deprived* areas of the West coast.

*Deprived; not of plasma tv's but in the general crime/poverty sense.