i've highlited this subject in the Garden festival Thread the other day, the denial of the then tory government not giving the areas around the GF site anything that was due to them, seems documents are being unearthed by the Herald on these matters.
Herald
Garden festival communities denied cash
Published on 15 Jan 2010
The communities which faced the most disruption as a result of the Glasgow Garden Festival were denied any extra cash to “take part” in the event, files have revealed.
The documents showed Central Govan, Elderpark and Linthouse community associations were encouraged by the then Housing Corporation to prepare business plans for grant funding. But they were all denied the cash.
Glasgow MP Bruce Millan had met the corporation and had added his support to the associations’ argument that they should be given additional resources in the period up to the garden festival.
He said: “The Government could ask the housing corporation to give a degree of priority to Govan if additional resources were made available.”
The housing associations did not want money taken from other areas and he supported the argument that they should be given extra resources in the period up to the garden festival.
“The Glasgow Garden Festival presented an opportunity to revitalise the south west of the city, and the three housing associations in Govan were anxious to play their part in this process by accelerating plans for housing improvements strategy,” he said.
However, Scottish Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said: “Additional funds for the Govan associations means equally reduced funds for someone else.
“Given the chronology I can well understand that for a considerable period the Govan associations may well have felt that they were being encouraged in their aspirations.
“But it is also clear that the Housing Corporation was giving very serious consideration to the proposals and we are highly sympathetic to them provided that the effect in other areas was not seriously deleterious.”
A document attributed to Sir Malcolm stated that “Glasgow and Govan in particular had been well favoured by the Housing Corporation and that over a number of years the corporation had given more assistance to Govan than the whole of the city of Dundee”.