Glasgow Meat Market sports facilities plans a 'fantastic asset' amid East End regeneration

Plans to turn B-listed sheds on the former Meat Market site into sports facilities and offices will create a “fantastic asset” for the area, a local councillor has said.

Council approval has now been granted for the pre-lease of the sheds, and a superintendent’s house, to Meat Market Heritage Trust, which will allow redevelopment to progress.

The deal is part of a wider regeneration project for the East End land, including 500 new affordable homes, active travel routes and a community hub.

A planned 25-year lease is expected to allow the trust to create a linear park on an area which lies over a railway tunnel and access funding from national bodies. No rent will be paid to the council.

Once the sheds have been refurbished, community sports facilities, bookable office space and, possibly, retail opportunities will be provided.

Speaking at a council meeting, Cllr Cecilia O’Lone, Labour, whose Calton ward includes the Meat Market site, said: “I think this is going to be a fantastic asset.

“The worst thing that could happen is it gets left and ends up getting demolished. It does have heritage significance to the area and local people do recognise that.

“To have new and old together is the ideal situation. It’s good that this is going ahead and it will become an asset for the Calton ward, and particularly for the new residents in the area.”

The site, which has been empty for around 20 years, was used as the Glasgow Meat Market Abattoir and Slaughterhouse complex, established in 1817. It was closed around 40 years ago and the sheds were later used for motor auctions.

A council official said: “The proposal will deliver regeneration of the B-listed meat market shed and superintendent’s house, as well as contribute to wider area regeneration.

“This extensive site has been unused since the early 2000s creating a barrier to movement within the locality and thus hindering access to services and opportunities in the city centre and wider East End.”

Final award of the lease would be conditional on the trust submitting a full business case to the council — with details of the timescales and proof of funding.

Council officials have been working with Milnbank Housing Association on a masterplan for the site and, a council report stated, a “special purpose vehicle” has been set up to “take over the delivery and operational phases of the project”.

These are the Meat Market Regeneration CIC and Meat Market Heritage Trust SCIO. The trust applied for the lease under the council’s People Make Glasgow Communities programmes, which allows local organisations to take over the management of council venues.

Patrick Flynn, the trust’s chairman, said: “We have undertaken significant community consultation to ensure that the proposed works at the Meat Market reflects the aims of the local people in terms of community use and job and training opportunities.

“Our board is striving to successfully develop the exciting projects that make up this significant regeneration initiative.”

Cllr Ruairi Kelly, SNP, the council’s convener for neighbourhood assets and services, said the project is “transforming a site in the East End that lay vacant for 20 years”.

He added: “Recent progress has been remarkable in the shape of the building of new affordable homes there. The work that the trust will do will further this transformation, improving the environment for the local community and visitors, and bringing new life and opportunities to the historic sheds and superintendent’s house.”