By ALAN FERGUSON

PROPOSALS to transform High Street are going out to the public so they can have their say.

Glasgow City Council’s plans will focus on heritage, economic development and the public realm.

The area in question spans from Glasgow Cathedral all the way down to Glasgow Green.

A cross-party body - the High Street Reference Group - has been established to oversee the implementation of the Action Plan, and the group is comprised of councillors from the three wards bordering the area.

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Public consultation on the plans begins on Monday.

City centre councillor Christy Mearns said: “High Street is one of the most historically significant streets in Glasgow, however it has suffered years of chronic underinvestment.

“This has meant that, despite being adjacent to Glasgow Cathedral and being in the heart of Glasgow’s medieval centre, High Street suffers from low footfall, is littered with vacant shop units due to high maintenance costs; and many of its buildings are in critical need of repair.

“I’m pleased that these issues are finally being given the attention they deserve and that members of the wider public are being encouraged to give their views through the High Street consultation.”

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It has been welcomed that the council plans to capitalise on the rich heritage of the area.

High Street, Saltmarket and those leading to and from them are some of Glasgow’s oldest charted streets, where the rest of the city expanded from.

Famous landmarks include Glasgow Cathedral, Provand’s Lordship, the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, the Necropolis, the Tollbooth Steeple and Glasgow Green.

Public realm is also going to be a major focus, which may involve improving the look of open spaces, streets, squares and greenspace.

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An intended effect of the developments is to increase opportunities for small and medium businesses in the area.

The plan is to make the area a bustling hive of activity.

Councillor Angus Millar, Depute City Convener for Inclusive Economic Growth, is chair of the High Street Reference Group.

He said: “The High Street and Saltmarket area is one with a rich heritage and enormous potential, but there is a widespread feeling that the area has not been given the attention or recognition it deserves as the historic heart Glasgow.

“With the right investment and approach, it can be restored to its traditional role as an important centre for Glasgow and the High Street Action Plan identifies a range of key priorities and opportunities to revitalise and champion the area.

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“We would like everyone with a stake or interest in the High Street and Saltmarket’s future to take part in this consultation, put forward their thoughts and ideas and help us deliver a future worthy of its history.”

Scottish Greens councillor Mearns added: “The final Action Plan will be an opportunity to signal a new direction for High Street: one which values and protects the historic built environment for future generations, which celebrates Glasgow’s important history and which helps small businesses to thrive.”

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the plans.

He said: “We are very pleased this consultation will soon begin.

“This historic part of Glasgow has had its challenges, but it has undoubted potential as a residential, leisure and business area, with the capability to add to the city’s tourist offering.

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“With the right level of care and imagination the High Street and Saltmarket area will be a genuinely distinctive asset to the city, and an important project in Glasgow’s new city centre strategy.”

Depute Lord Provost Philip Braat called on members of the public to take part in the consultation.

He added: “I want to see the High Street return to its former glory, at the centre of the historic and vibrant heart of the city.”

Calton councillor Greg Hepburn said: “High Street is the traditional heart of Glasgow and is key to unlocking the inner East.

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“I'm looking forward to the outcome of this consultation.”

Councillor Robert Connelly, also representing Calton, added: “I’m looking forward to what the public has to say about our plans.”

KEY AIMS

A KEY aim behind the regeneration plan for High Street is to protect and promote the area’s heritage.

High Street is Glasgow’s oldest road where the rest of the city expanded from.

Originally, it was a fishing village and Christian community.

High Street originally started as a road to and from the cathedral.

Glasgow garnered great wealth when its merchants gained access to the England’s colonial trading routes following the Act of Union 1707.

During this time High Street and Saltmarket was the centre of a newly forming international tobacco business.

It was much quicker for merchants in the Americas to drop off their goods in Glasgow than go all the way to London.

Glasgow’s ‘tobacco lords’ conducted their businesses in this old imperial city centre.

Due to this economic boom Glasgow, the area became bustling with business and expanded.

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High Street was also the first ever home to the University of Glasgow when it was part of Glasgow Cathedral.

The University of Glasgow Library is now considered one of the oldest in Europe – and it all started on High Street.

After a donation in the university 1460 it expanded in the area and grew in significance before moving to the West End in 1870.

As Glasgow expanded throughout the following centuries the town centre shifted towards George Square and Buchanan Street.

Recently, the area has not managed to compete with other parts of the city centre and West End.

Glasgow City Council’s plan is essentially to return this medieval centre of Glasgow to its former glory.

CURRENT PROJECTS

PROJECTS to breathe new life into parts of Glasgow ongoing across the city centre.

Currently, Sauchiehall Street is undergoing a public realm makeover to make it more attractive.

The Avenues Project will city centre routes overhauled to improve connectivity, infrastructure and streetscapes through installation of new paving, traffic calming measures and tree planting.

The Avenues scheme has identified Argyle Street, St Enoch’s Square, Sauchiehall Precinct, Cathedral Street and North Hanover Street for significant public realm enhancements as part of the City Deal.

Part of that includes a plan for the Underline, a pedestrian and cycle route linking Great Western Road with Central Station.

Glasgow City Council appointed architects on a £1.8m contract to deliver the City Centre Avenues project.

A £9m plan was last year consulted on to make improvements to the public realm of Byres Road.

Vast improvements are underway to the Partick Bus Station precinct.

Riverside regeneration plans are in the pipeline to return the desolate former shipyards into thriving communities.

FACTS

HIGH Street is the oldest city in Glasgow and founded in Medieval times around the Cathedral of St Mungo, later Glasgow Cathedral.

Tolbooth Steeple at the bottom of High Street was once part of the Tolbooth buildings. The steeple itself is understood to have been built around 1626. In 1921, the Tolbooth buildings were demolished for a new Royal Bank of Scotland to be built, leaving the steeple standing alone.

The McLennan Arch was only placed facing the Saltmarket in 1991. Prior to that it was facing Charlotte Street. Before that, it was near Montrieth Row. Originally, it was part of the now-demolished Assembly Rooms built by famous Scots architects Robert and James Adam.

The Saltmarket runs from the Clyde to Glasgow Cross. It gets its name from the salt merchants who sold salt to the fishermen of the Bridgegate.

The beautiful St Andrew’s in the Square was built with the profits of slave labour in the West Indies.