urbanglasgow.co.uk

Alex Glass · Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:14 pm Post subject:

Link to the videos shown as part of the Bid Presentation on 9th November.

OUR COUNTRY
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I had a dream today

ALEX G @ flickr

james73 · Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:28 am Post subject:

£26m for 2014 games security

MORE than £26million will be spent on making the 2014 Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow the safest ever.

A detailed breakdown of the finances shows Strathclyde Police costs will be more
than £16m, while private sector security will cost £9.3m.

Another £750,000 will be spent protecting the Games' satellite village at Carnoustie,
where the shooting events will be held. The figures emerged as MSPs on Holyrood's
Finance Committee today scrutinised funding for the Games.

City council leader Steven Purcell said the costs were fully justified.

He added: "These will be the most athlete-centred Commonwealth Games ever,
and the budget includes £26m for security because it's vital those taking part,
and everyone else who will be here to enjoy the Games, can do so in safety."

Derek Casey, who masterminded the Games bid, said: "As well as the number
of people involved, the security costs include everything from X-ray machines
to security wands."

The breakdown of costs gives every detail of how the Games budget was set at
£373m which, with expected revenue of £75m, leaves a balance of £298m. It covers
everything from athletes' food to the cost of the stadia.

James H
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Happiness ain't at the end of the road - Happiness *IS* the road...

james73 · Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:10 pm Post subject:

£4.5m profit for firm holding final piece of 2014 jigsaw

A PATCH of land worth just £45,000 in 1989 is to net its owners £5.5million of public
cash - because it's needed for the Commonwealth Games.

Taxpayers will foot the bill for the 2.5 acres of wasteland on the site of the Athletes'
Village in the East End.

The sale comes after landowner Graham Duffy was accused of "holding Glasgow
to ransom" over the purchase.

If it is agreed by councillors this Friday, the deal will mean a massive windfall
for the consortium fronted by businessman Mr Duffy, which bought the land at
Dalmarnock in 2005 for a sum thought to be less than £1million.

Land Register records show the site, one of few last pieces of the jigsaw needed
for the Games Village, was bought in two parts for £20,000 in 1988 and then
£25,000 in 1989. The new owning company and the land was then sold on to Mr
Duffy's consortium in 2005.

Mr Duffy, of Glasgow developers Grantly Group, offered the wasteland to the
council for almost £8m during the Games bid in 2006.

But the 40-year-old businessman, now based in Florida, was accused of trying
to take advantage of the Games for profit.

As revealed in the Evening Times last month, the council said that it would not pay
the asking price for the land.

Now its final offer is £5.5m and it has warned that it would pursue a Compulsory
Purchase Order if a deal wasn't struck.

A senior council source said: "It looks like Mr Duffy has got his deal, but it's not
anything like the money he'd asked for.

"This is a good deal for Glasgow as the land is vital for the Games Village.

"Given what they've put the council through I only hope the money is paid in
pound coins..."

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james73 · Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:53 am Post subject:

We'll build new East End

AT LEAST 10,000 people in the east end of Glasgow should land jobs created by
the massive regeneration of the area.

Glasgow City Council wants to create 20,000 jobs on the back of the Clyde
Gateway project and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, with locals earmarked
for half of them.

The council also want to take a "guiding hand" in the rebirth of the area to
ensure a "joined up" approach, with the correct number of houses, shops
and leisure facilities.

The aim is to avoid the mistakes of the past when giant, peripheral housing
schemes were built in the 1950s and '60s but with few other facilities such
as shops or community centres.

Now the council's executive committee is to adopt a local development
strategy to bring together the various regeneration plans for the east end.

East end councillor George Redmond said: "This is about saying, here is
how we can enable local people to benefit from the regeneration that is
going on'.

"We want to improve their confidence and their skills and make sure the
benefits are not lost on them.

"We have to learn from the past, both good and bad, and I think the
opportunities we have in front of us are so sweeping we need to get them
right first time.

"This has to be sustainable in the long-term.

"I don't want to see it coming back in my lifetime or my children's lifetime.
We must ensure that, for generations to come, the east end is a place
worth living, working and enjoying yourself in."

James H
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Happiness ain't at the end of the road - Happiness *IS* the road...

james73 · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:06 pm Post subject:

Just go for it!

GLASGOW'S future business leaders are to be given tips on how to cash in on
the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Derek Casey, who masterminded the city's bid to host the sporting spectacular,
will brief enterprise students and small business owners at a special summit
tonight.

Figures show almost 90% of contracts went to local firms when Melbourne hosted
the Games in 2006.

Mr Casey, now interim chief executive of the Games Organising Committee, wants
city companies to secure the largest share of the multi- million pound spin-offs.

Mr Casey said: "Winning is a catalyst for all the changes that will happen over
the next few years in Glasgow.

"Cities which can show they are helping themselves will be able to attract more investment."

An organising company, Glasgow 2014 Ltd, has already been set up and will oversee
the plans, which include the redevelopment of some of the city's most deprived areas.

Tonight's summit, called Winning Is Just The Beginning, will take place at the
Caledonian Business School.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow Caledonian University said: "Derek has years of experience
in sport and sports development and we are delighted he has agreed to host this
masterclass."

James H
_________________
Happiness ain't at the end of the road - Happiness *IS* the road...

james73 · Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:57 pm Post subject:

Builders told ‘think green’ on new homes

DEVELOPERS hoping to cash in on the Commonwealth Games and Glasgow's housing
boom are being warned to think green.

Over the next few years around 10,000 homes will be built in the East End alone,
1200 of them in the athletes' village.

Recently, the Scottish Government issued planning guidelines saying developments
with more than two houses must ensure levels of greenhouse gas C02 being
emitted from them are at least 15% below current standards.

Tomorrow, councillors are likely to agree to more action to cut the city's carbon
footprint. They want new housing to be able to turn solar power into electricity
and hot water.

Developers will be asked to consider installing small-scale energy supplies such as
mini wind turbines.

James H
_________________
Happiness ain't at the end of the road - Happiness *IS* the road...

james73 · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:11 pm Post subject:

Back the Bid? But we won the Games in November!

A HUGE banner is urging people to back Glasgow's bid to host the Commonwealth
Games months after the city won the race to host the event.

News of the successful bid to host the 2014 Games was announced last November
to the delight of city.

But the bridge-sited advert, asking people to vote online, still faces drivers heading
along busy Dalmarnock Road in the East End area earmarked for the athletes'
village.

One driver who contacted the Evening Times said: "Why are we still being urged
to sign up?

"The location - Dalmarnock Road at Mordaunt Street - will soon be a hive of activity
with the groundwork for the National Sports Arena, Velodrome and athletes'
village.

"Developers eyeing the area must think Glasgow City Council is out of touch."

The banner, next to Dalmarnock rail station, was put up by Titan Advertising
UK who provided the site free of charge for the ad but the Glasgow 2014 bid team
said the banner will come down later this week.

The only other Commonwealth Games poster - this one proclaims proud host
city' - is in Glasgow's India Street.

Titan's marketing department in London said the reason for the delay was due to
the necessity for a road closure during the work to remove the banner.

James H
_________________
Happiness ain't at the end of the road - Happiness *IS* the road...

james73 · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:42 pm Post subject:

2014 skyline for the East End

THESE are the latest images of the £98million National Indoor Sports Arena to be
built in Glasgow's East End.

The sports venue, which will be ready in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games,
will be one of the biggest of its kind in the world.

With seating for 5000 people, it will be a city, regional and national indoor training
centre, as well as a major international sports event venue.

Three full-size training and community sports halls will serve as warm-up spaces
for athletes as well as event spaces in their own right.

Scotland's first purpose-built indoor velodrome for cycle racing will also operate
as a roller sports park.

The arena at Dalmarnock will include a community sports and leisure centre
with a dedicated community sports hall, dance studio, extensive gym and spa,
creche, outdoor five-a-side pitch and cafe.

Elite athletes will be able to use conditioning and physiotherapy suites and will
have medical rooms, as well as seminar and workshop spaces.

Archie Graham, Glasgow City Council's executive spokesman for culture and
sport, said: "This will be a unique sports venue that will provide a venue of world
class standards for staging national and international sporting events.

"It will serve as a city, regional and national centre of sporting excellence for
athletics, cycling, basketball, netball and volleyball.

"It will also be a community sports and leisure centre in the heart of an area
of major redevelopment, with new private and social housing and an expanding
population."

A total of 84 full-time staff will be needed to operate the venue and the council
plans to target training and apprenticeships in building skills and leisure centre
operations at local people.

James H
_________________
Happiness ain't at the end of the road - Happiness *IS* the road...

james73 · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 1:05 pm Post subject:

90 jobs for Games area as offices move east

AROUND 90 staff of Glasgow Culture and Sport are to move to an office in
the East End of the city.

The organisation, which runs the city's museums, galleries and leisure
facilities, is to base its sports development team at the new National
Indoor Sports Arena in Parkhead.

They will share office space with staff of the national sports agency, Sportscotland.

The venue, near Celtic Park, is being built as one of the centrepieces of
the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

A spokesman for Glasgow Culture and Sport said: "For too long the East
End has suffered poverty and deprivation.

"The development at Parkhead brings with it the opportunity to create
jobs, not least in sport."

Culture and Sport Glasgow is now based in the Trongate in the city centre.

James H
_________________
Happiness ain't at the end of the road - Happiness *IS* the road...

james73 · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:13 pm Post subject:

Vice ‘magnet’ claims over 2014 Games

THE Commonwealth Games could become a "magnet" for prostitution and
child trafficking, it was claimed today.

The stark warning was issued by the Scottish Trade Union Congress, which
called for vigilance to prevent the sex trade flourishing during the event.

Other major fixtures, such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games had
become centres of sexual exploitation in the past, STUC general secretary
Grahame Smith said.

Large numbers of men descending on host cities meant they could be
transformed into hotspots for traffickers, he added.

Glasgow beat competition from Abuja, in Nigeria, to host the games in 2014.

But Mr Smith today said: "There is evidence from organisations that have
been involved in this issue that events like the World Cup, for example, or
the Olympic Games, where you have large numbers of men attending, the
availability of certain services and the demand for these increases."

He said there was a "need to ensure when the Commonwealth Games
come to Glasgow that it doesn't become a magnet for traffickers."

The issues of exploitation and trafficking at the Games are included in a
motion to be debated at the STUC's annual congress in Inverness next
week. Also high on the agenda will be concerns over the economy in the
wake of the credit crisis.

Other issues include a balanced energy strategy, worries over post office
closures and fears that rapid advances in technology are leading to
"cyberbullying" of some workers.

James H
_________________
Happiness ain't at the end of the road - Happiness *IS* the road...