An eight year long campaign to save the St. Augustine's football pitches in Milton, Glasgow has finally triumphed, with a £2.4m investment in community facilities.
Glasgow City Council's Policy and Resources Committee is expected to approve plans for new changing rooms, community centre, and library at 13:00 today Tuesday 18th April. Refurbished football pitches and new rugby pitches are also planned for the site.
That should mark an end to Council attempts to sell the entire site for private housing development, first halted by a public local planning inquiry.
John MacLean of the local save our pitches group said that he was driven to start the campaign 8 years ago when his young son watched in horror as workmen sawed down the set of goalposts opposite his house. Along with the goalposts, the secondary school, swimming pool, and changing rooms were demolished in a single weekend to pre-empt any occupation of those facilities.
He said campaigners were not declaring final victory until they see the full details and timetable, but that the announcement was a vindication of the hard work of all the local campaigners, including Pat Curran, Joe Kerr, Charlie Traynor, and Alex O'Kane. Most of all to Pat Curran, who sadly passed away before seeing the results her campaigning helped achieve.
The swimming pool demolished in 1998 will remain as an outstanding issue.
More information:
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5051107.html
http://libcom.org/news/article.php/commonwealth-games-glasgow-250306
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