Funding removed from Glasgow park lighting plan
Funding issues are blamed for safety lighting not being implemented in Glasgow parks until 2025.
The work to place more lighting in Glasgow parks to make them more accessible safe spaces has been pushed back two years due to funding issues with Glasgow City Council stating that community groups should apply for funding themselves. Councilor Jill Brown represents East Partick and Kelvindale has said that warm words don’t light up parks
The initiative began after COP26 where women were made to walk through an unlit area of Kelvingrove Park. Dawn Fyfe, Chief Executive of Wise Women a Glasgow based charity that encourages women to feel safe on the streets of Glasgow has said that it is a “cultural issue” where more awareness is needed as it is a “complex issue.”
She said: “There can be things done that show an immediate response, it might not be lighting up the whole park, but it could be ensuring that all bus stops are clearly lit to give an indicator to women that where these things can be resolved they will be resolved.”
Due to budget constraints, there was no funding set aside for the plan, leaving parks like Kelvingrove dimly lit or not lit at all.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “Work to install lighting in the parks involved in the current pilot programme will require a significant level of funding, which has still to be identified.
“Our parks development team has an excellent track record of working with communities and local groups to secure funding from the range of available sources.
“We are already working with community organisations in the Castlemilk area to secure funding for improvements to the existing lighting columns in Castlemilk Park, which we are hopeful will be successful.
“There are still issues to be resolved with the proposals in the three pilot parks, such as environmental impact assessments, and at this stage there is no consensus over which routes through each park should have lighting.
“Our parks development team will continue to progress these proposals and also look to identify funding wherever possible.”
“Our parks development team will continue to progress these proposals and also look to identify funding wherever possible.”
