ONE OF Scotland’s most famous streets needs a “drastic rethink” to stop it becoming a no-go zone, according to experts and politicians.

Between Charing Cross and Buchanan Galleries, residents and visitors pass dozens of empty shops, boarded up windows, cracked pavements and at risk buildings.

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Sauchiehall Street once formed part of the city’s ‘Golden Z’ and was the highlight of many visitors’ trip to the city.

But fears are growing that the jewel in Glasgow’s crown may have no hope of returning to its former glory without an urgent rethink of city centre strategy.

Three buildings at the Charing Cross end of the street are at risk - the former Tatler Cinema Club, now a disused nightclub; the old Bradfords Bakery and a 4-storey 19th century tenement.

All the buildings are showing signs of damp according to their latest inspections, with weeds and plants growing through cracks in the roofs and walls.

Funds for improvements in the area have stalled since the Buchanan Galleries extension project came to a halt, and the local authority are now considering what other uses the empty units on the street could have.

They are considering what other types of businesses, for example restaurants or bars, could occupy the empty spaces.

The Galleries supermall plan is part of a Tax Incremental Funding (TIF) scheme sought by Glasgow City Council and supported by Holyrood.

It was planned that the council raise a total of more than £80m against future extra additional business rates from the super-mall, and they have already borrowed £9m under the scheme.

However, with the work not going ahead and more shops lying empty around the mall, the council are losing income from business rates.

According to one expert, shoppers are being driven away from the town due to the easy parking options at out of town centres, and attracting businesses to open up on Sauchiehall Street “is a challenge”.

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Marketing professor Alan Wilson, of Strathclyde University, said: “The main centre of shopping in Glasgow now is running from Buchanan Galleries at the top to the St Enoch’s centre at the bottom.

“It is a challenge to get people to go out on the top and bottom of the Z - along Sauchiehall street and along Argyle Street.

He added that the key to reviving the once prized Glasgow Street may lie in hospitality - bars and restaurants - as opposed to trying to get more shops to open up.

“These big stores with the large floor plans, like BHS, I would doubt there is a great deal of interest at this point in time.

“You’ve had Woolworths, Comet, BHS, C&A.

“The only places filling them since have been the likes of Matalan, Primark and Sports Direct but they probably don’t need that size of floorspace at the moment.

“I don’t know what will fill all of these spaces.

“You might get more potential for more hospitality - restaurants etc might be a way of reinvigorating Sauchiehall street but I think it will be very difficult to get a lot of new shops in there.”

Richard Muir, deputy chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said the city must encourage “continued investment in the city centre” to keep Glasgow top of the shops.

He said businesses are doing their best to work together, though the City Center Retail Association and the Business Improvement District scheme on Sauchiehall Street, to bring in customers.

He added: “Glasgow continues to be the UK’s top retail destination outside of London, however we can’t rest on our laurels and need to encourage continued investment in the city centre.

“The Sauchiehall Street Avenue project aims to totally transform the non-pedestrianised half of the street from a traffic-dominated street to a place for people to enjoy, with a more attractive and inclusive streetscape including mixed-species tree planting, seats, and cycling facilities.

“Experience has proven that these kinds of improvements lead directly to safer and more vibrant places with a mixed, and stronger leisure and retail offer with greater economic stability.

“The recently announced plan for a development of shops and Grade A office space on the BHS site is another example of what is needed to maintain the vitality of Sauchiehall Street.

“Retail contributes around £2.6bn to Glasgow’s economy every year and the city has a reputation for attracting well known global brands and keeping a consistently strong pipeline of interest.”

Sandra White, SNP MSP for the area said while it is a positive thing that the BHS site will have retail space on offer, it may be difficult to attract shops to open there given the number of empty units already on Sauchiehall Street.

She said there needs to be a “drastic rethink” in how to attract and regenerate the street and said: “Something needs to be done. We need to take a serious look at this now before it is too late.”

Green Councillor Nina Baker said she fears the situation will only get worse.

She said: “If the Buchanan galleries development ever goes ahead the expectation is that the new retail space would be mainly occupied by either smaller shops already in the mall, or some of the bigger chains out on Sauchiehall street. It means the ones who would take up the extra shops would come off the open high street.

“We will see more long-term empty units.”

Glasgow City Council has acknowledged there is a need for improvements on the thoroughfare and made it a priority in their recent City Centre Strategy programme.

A spokesman said the local authority considered how best to “make use of the assets that continue to make this famous Glasgow street a regular destination for so many, and how to address issues such as vacant units.”

He added: “The initial stage of the strategy, beginning in late Spring 2017, will see the transformation of the non-pedestrianised part of Sauchiehall Street between Charing Cross and Rose Street, and smaller, community-focused projects will begin in the area over the next year.

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“We are working with partners such as the Chamber of Commerce, the City Centre Retail Association and the Sauchiehall Street BID to ensure the best support possible is given to this crucial part of our civic and economic life.”