Case Study submitted by Ibrox and Cessnock Community Council - Giving the community a voice.

Following on from the impact of Lockdown as a result of the Global Pandemic, Ibrox and Cessnock CC sought to become a focal point for Community Cohesion.

As a community we have some particular circumstances and events that have a longstanding, regular and significant impact on our environment.

We have a local Secondary School which sees pupils coming to our main street every day at lunch time to access food outlets, Ranger Football Club which brings in 50 000 plus fans (the equivalent of a small town) for both home and European competitions, 2 subway stations which attract a lot of people to park and ride, a high volume of eating establishments which bring in customers from out with the immediate area by car.

We are a predominately tenemental area which means we have a large density of houses in a relatively small area.

Many of our tenements were deemed unsuitable for bin collection from the back court, this led to unsightly bins being placed on the streets which, prior to bin hubs being installed resulted in overflowing bins and flytipping on Paisley Rd West.

The overall impact of all of the above on a small concentrated area, were high levels of litter, fly tipping, rodent infestation, anti-social behaviour and a demand for parking spaces which regularly resulted in parking infringements.

All of these became issues which community members highlighted as having a negative impact on their wellbeing.  There was a feeling among the community that nobody cared about our area and that they weren’t being listened to.

The Community Council with the support of two of our Elected Members, Councillors Bell and Hutchison brought various organisations and Council Departments to our meetings to raise awareness of these problems and seek solutions.

Our meetings are now very well attended by Community members, Councillor Bell, Councillor Hutchison, representatives from Community Police, Rangers Football Club, the local Mosque, Cleansing and Roads Departments.

This has allowed for open and frank discussions about the issues faced by the community and what the solutions might be.

While some have been partly resolved, others are still a work in progress.

Chairperson of Ibrox and Cessnock Community Council Avril Williamson said: “Our meetings are at times loud, passionate and feisty, however the important thing is that the relevant people are attending our meetings, engaging in meaningful dialogue and actively working to put solutions in place.  The voice of the community is now being heard loud and clear”