Progress being made on council's Heritage Asset Plan

The council has a notably large and diverse heritage estate, and the city's Heritage Asset Plan was created to manage these assets as effectively as possible. The council's heritage estate features not only hundreds of listed buildings, but also battlefields, bridges, conservation areas, designated landscapes, monuments and statues.

Glasgow City Council has spent over £280million on this estate over the last dozen years, with this investment being made in arts, community, culture, education and leisure properties. This estate - and the investment in it - brings many benefits, promoting Glasgow to a global audience, improving our local communities, and providing opportunities for the city's people.

The Plan is part of the city's Property Asset Strategy, the buildings in the heritage estate play a key role in determining which properties are used for operational activity and those which are prioritised for investment, and while aware of the challenges that face heritage buildings, officers will prioritise council / council family use first; community / third sector / voluntary use second; and then consider potential opportunities within the commercial / private sector.

The framework of the Heritage Asset Plan has a framework of actions through which the estate can be most effectively managed, and the focus of these actions is on heritage properties, such as the (operational, 95 in number) City Chambers, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and the Kibble Palace, and non-operational / surplus to operational requirements - 68 in number - including Elder Park Farm, King's Park Courtyard, and the St Vincent Street Church.

The scope of these actions can be described as: the maintenance and preservation of heritage assets; refurbishment and re-development opportunities; the promotion of community use; partnership working opportunities with other public or private sector organisations; and - only if no other options are viable - partial or full demolition of the asset.

Some of the most recent / ongoing actions through the Plan include the £4.35million investment at the Gallery of Modern Art to replace the glazed roof, fix guttering and address tanking; the £3.6million work to restore Provan Hall House and grounds, including a new visitor centre; the £1.65million project at Provand's Lordship to renew services throughout, replace 1980s windows with double-glazed units, replacement of rainwater goods, the structural repair of walls and repairs to the roof; the £18.85million investment in Pollok House and Pollok Stables and Courtyard, with roof and general building fabric repairs at the House, and conservation and refurbishment including visitor exhibition and interpretation, flexible multipurpose and event spaces, and a new café at the Stables and Sawmill. In addition, the £23million project at the former St James' Primary School in the Calton will deliver a new Gaelic Medium Education Centre.

Despite the current challenging financial climate for the public services, Glasgow City Council has allocated £1million of capital funding to make further targeted improvements to the heritage estate over the next three years. The council also continues to develop proposals for further investment in heritage buildings such as the People's Palace and Winter Gardens, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and the Mitchell Library, and will explore external funding opportunities with bodies such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic Scotland.

The Built Heritage Commission for the city - established in June 2024 - provides strategic heritage advice to the council and its public, private and third sector partners on a number of issues, including: the city's heritage assets; conservation area updates; the identification of sustainable future uses for heritage buildings; funding/legislation/planning/policy updates; public realm; an overview of buildings at risk; and climate change and sustainability considerations. The Commission will build an evidence base to build on the council's own knowledge, which - while using the expertise of partners in the sector - will allow better and more-informed decisions to be made.

Important work to assess all council-owned heritage assets will take place over the next year, with a focus on those assets which can be used to support local communities, alongside an assessment of the long-term investment requirements to help guide future financial planning.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, Convener for Housing, Development, Built Heritage and Land Use at Glasgow City Council, said: "Glasgow has a fantastic heritage estate, of which we are rightfully proud and consistently make significant investment in. To make the most of the economic, cultural and social benefits that the estate brings to the city, we use the Heritage Asset Plan - and now also the Built Heritage Commission - to do all that we can to manage the estate effectively and realise as many of those benefits as possible. We will continue to invest in the estate to ensure that the people of Glasgow and our visitors continue to enjoy this fantastic part of our heritage."