When the Court of Session ruled in the council’s favour in January, we may have lost a technical battle. But we could still win the war.

Lord Sandison’s judgment was virtually unprecedented. The council won the technical legal point, but it was clear they could not let their bias continue unchecked.

A public park is a public park, and public authorities are meant to balance all community interests – not just promote those that fit their own agenda.

What next for Cathkin?

This week I instructed my lawyers to write to Glasgow City Council again.

We asked them to remove the ‘temporary’ fence that has been up for over a year.

We also propose that the council should enter formal mediation with the local community. It’s a reasonable way for everyone involved to find a fair outcome for Cathkin Park.

I’ll update you once we have a reply.

Costs

Once all the generous donations are taken into account, I have an outstanding bill of around £1,800 for the last court case.

Please – anything you can donate further to the fund will be massive help for me to avoid shouldering personal debt for our community’s interests.

Other important cases

Pollok Park

You may have seen the parallel, bigger application to close off land on the edge of Pollok Park.

The application is made by a different ‘charitable trust’ but is clearly related to the proposed development of Cathkin Park.

The development would effectively expand the Lochinch Sports Pavilion (used as the professional Queen's Park FC training ground) around three times over. 

Although this bit of land is privately owned it sits within the ‘historic gardens and landscape’ area of Pollok Park – which is an important material consideration for planners to take into account.

The application is open for comments until Tuesday 11 March (next week). In case the link breaks, the application number is 24/03114/FUL.

Dundee – Save Riverside Park

Please take 5 minutes to read about our Dundonian friends who are fighting a horrendous development. 

The plan would effectively turn the naturalistic Riverside Park into a business park, removing it from public enjoyment and control.

It’s abundantly clear that saving public open spaces is a national issue. That’s why our campaign to save Cathkin Park has been so important. We continue to stand up not just for our own green space, but for others’ too.

The Court of Session handed down its judgment on the second judicial review today.

The case was refused due to the technical way that the law is written. But the Council haven't exactly got away with it. Here's what you need to know.

Lord Sandison stated what we all know to be true: whether 1.99m or 3m high, a fence around the pitch prevents lawful public access rights. He said it was "difficult to understand, let alone agree with" the Council's position that a fence does not interfere with these rights.

Of course, this is the point which the Council consistently dispute—and for this, Lord Sandison treated them to some very heavy criticism.

• Firstly, he expressed concern about the Council's apparent reluctance to act in the interests of the wider community: "[the Council] does not seem to see itself, as others might, as a suitable vehicle for the reconciliation of the different interests for the benefit of the community as a whole."
  
  
• Secondly, he agreed that the Council's role in encouraging and granting the certificate whilst the first JR was in progress comes across as deceptive: "it is not difficult to understand [the view that the certificate] was a ruse to sidestep the difficulties which might attend the grant of planning permission."
  
  
• Thirdly, he noted that there are potential questions to be asked about the way that the Council has positioned itself "as both the authority with the power and duty to enforce rights of access and the landlord of the entity wishing to restrict such rights".
  
  

These comments expose the real issue—that Glasgow City Council continue to act in a way which raises questions about their intentions and motivations.

This issue has been apparent to some of us since almost 200 public objections to the first planning application were ignored. Lord Sandison's comments means that the Council's position of ignoring community concerns is no longer tenable.

My legal team have suggested ways forward.

Watch this space.

Greg

We're back to the Court of Session Outer House on Thursday to defeat the council's 'certificate of lawfulness' for a security fence that would abolish public access to the main part of Cathkin Park.

The legal arguments are similar, but this isn't a simple mirror image of the first judicial review earlier this year. Glasgow City Council believe they had a duty to certify a fence less than 2m tall to be erected when it was applied for - on the basis of the same law that lets householders put up a garden fence...

Is a security fence that's designed to remove public access to a publicly owned open space really the same as a garden fence?

Works on the pitch

After the dramatic uplift of the pitch surface on 3 September, nothing seems to have happened since apart from more mysterious 'quadbike' tracks appearing.

The Council had told the club they had 14 weeks for the current 'temporary' fence to stay up while works were ongoing. Those 14 weeks expired on 10 December, and yet access is still totally obstructed, as it has been since 29 February.

Why? As I told you on 20 October, we know from a Freedom of Information response the private club leasing the pitch want a 'hybrid surface'. We believe they want this because they think it's a loophole that'll help them close it off. But given this second Court case, they don't want to begin those works until they know they can 'protect' their asset by completely removing it from the public sphere.

What now?

It's not possible to predict when the Court's judgment on this second case will be handed down, but it seems quite likely to be well after Hogmanay.

In the meantime, please continue to share my Crowdjustice page. If we lose, my costs will be in the region of £7,500. 

But if we win, everything not needed for Cathkin Park goes to the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland - to help protect other precious community spaces.

Works commenced today. I don’t know exactly what the works are, but two tractors started pulling up the pitch.

After last week’s rumour that something would begin on Monday 2 September, I went down yesterday lunchtime. There were no works, materials, tractors, or any other signs of preparation yesterday.

But behind the fence that’s been locked for over 6 months, I spotted some very strange tyre marks up the pitchside. These photos were taken on 2 September at 12:01.

These marks clearly weren’t made by one of the tractors or trailers out there today. They were also on the opposite side of the pitch from where works started today. But they looked very familiar to me.

This is taken from the football academy’s planning application - its primary justification for wanting a fence. The community have asked the council for crime report numbers. They've not even been able to give us dates.

So, I’d say it looks like ‘quadbikes’ were recently allowed onto the pitch by the academy - or the academy have their own vehicle that leaves remarkably similar superficial marks. What do you think?

'How can I support the campaign?'

• Reply to Historic Environment Scotland's public consultation on designating the football ground in Cathkin Park: https://haveyoursay.historicenvironment.scot/heritage/share-your-views-on-cathkin-park-glasgow
  
  

Please note: After my post at the weekend alerting you to comments being re-opened on the first planning application, it was interesting to see the 'last date for comments' revert to 23 June 2023 yesterday.

Not only did the council approve a separate fence while my first court case was in full swing. 

Now they’re thinking about permitting that first fence all over again!

You can submit your objections to the council before Tuesday 10 September.

• Either register/log into the portal: https://publicaccess.glasgow.gov.uk/online-applications
• Or email [email protected]
• Use planning reference 23/01268/FUL
• Refer to ‘material considerations’ if you can - the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and the council’s duty to uphold public access to the pitch is one of them

The more local views we give them, the better. But you don’t need to live in the area to comment. Please share this wherever you can.

I was ‘tracking’ this application on the planning portal but never received notice. I only found out because I’m now checking the portal routinely myself.

Am I surprised by how close this objection deadline is, and how the local community haven’t been notified again? By this point in time - no, not really.

The council hasn’t appealed against the Court’s ruling. I should be celebrating our victory with you, but I can’t.

On Monday, entirely by chance, I discovered something I found really alarming.

I saw on the planning portal that, using different means, the council approved another ‘security’ fence in the same place while my action in the Court of Session was ongoing.

No one was notified, consulted, or invited to comment. No reference to this was made at any time during the court proceedings.

My lawyers were just as astonished as I was. They helped me to lodge ANOTHER challenge in the Court of Session.

It was best for this to take place in my name because it’s so relevant to my last case, but this means I’m exposed to the risk of costs all over again.

In the meantime, I’ve heard that some kind of development is due to begin on the pitch from Monday 2nd September. Is that the second fence? I’ve no idea. There’s nothing publicly available to suggest what might be about to happen.

‘What can I do to support the new case?’

Above all, we need to keep this in the public eye. Please consider doing any or all of the below:

• Historic Environment Scotland is considering designating the football ground in Cathkin Park as a site of special importance. This is huge, and was going to be the original headline of this update until Monday’s discovery.
  
  Designation could help protect the park. It’s crucial that HES hear your views to understand the importance of the site! Please comment and share: https://bit.ly/designatecathkin
  
  
• Share my crowdfunding page with your friends, family and neighbours.
  
  
• Donate again if you can.
  
  
• If you can share your time and energy, contact us: [email protected]

The fight continues.

Greg