Welcome to a new environment column from the Greater Govan Environment Trust and its Environment Officer and Secretary – Ken Bussey.
Environment Trust formed

The good news is that after a great deal of time and effort the Greater Govan Environment Trust has been formally incorporated as a company and is currently seeking charitable status. The first Board of Directors has been set up and there will be up to eight community members to lead the Board along with a maximum of five directors from local supporting organisations.

At the first Board meeting, Sarah Findlay was appointed Chair. Afterwards she said, ‘I am delighted to be given the confidence of the directors to lead the Board into its first year. The Trust will set about making a positive change to aspects of the local environment and we particularly want to get local people involved in events in the area to highlight local environmental issues.’

Urban Trail from Kinning Park to the Glasgow Science Centre

The consultants for this project have now presented the Working Group with a draft of their final report on the feasibility of the project. We hope to have the final version of the report early in 2007 and after discussions and consultation with the local communities and organisations we will make plans to put this project into operation and to get the necessary funds to make sure that it happens.

Action Plan for the Future

At its December meeting, the Board of Directors focussed on preparing an Action Plan for the first year of the Trust. Included in that plan are a range of elements to get local communities involved, including a strategy to make more use of Elder Park, called ‘Reclaim the Park’.

Ken Bussey said, ‘Last year the Environment Group organised two very successful community events in Elder Park – the Greenzone at Govan Gathering in September and Every Dog Has Its Day – a fun dog show in October. This was a part of the national Make A Difference Day organised by Community Service Volunteers.

At the show, nearly 100 people had a lot of fun while getting out the message to dog owners to be responsible and to pick up their dog’s mess and to Bag It and Bin It.’

He added, ‘The Trust wants to run similar events in the future. Hopefully from April to October 2007 there will be an event each month in the park which raises environmental awareness and gives the local communities the chance to come together to have some fun. We are already talking about a Treasure Hunt, a Teddy Bears’ Picnic and some type of drama performance. The aim is to bring people of all ages back into Elder Park so that it will be increasingly used by families in the area.’

This column has been produced with the support of Clydeview Housing Partnership and Glasgow Development Fund.