by Iain Lundy, Evening Times
Glasgow's Paddy's Market is to be transformed from a
"crime-ridden midden" to an international tourist attraction.
The Evening Times has learned that the rundown site near the
Merchant City could become a "mini-Camden Market" - London's most
popular open-air market.
It's hoped the illegal traders and drug dealers who blight the
market will be replaced by aspiring artists of different ethnic
backgrounds.
Discussions are at an advanced stage to allow the city council
to take over the lease from site owners Network Rail.
When the deal is complete, the council will clear the
second-hand traders from the site in Shipbank Lane.
The council then plans to use the area to house council offices
and to sub-let property to arts and business organisations.
The state of the market - which is almost 200 years old - has
been causing concern in recent years, with one councillor labelling
it a "crime- ridden midden".
Drug dealing has become a major problem and there is a growing
number of illegal street traders.
In 2005/2006, police reported almost 850 crimes in the area,
mostly for drug possession, but including one attempted murder.
Yesterday councillor George Ryan, the council's regeneration
convener, said: "We are ready to conclude a deal with Network Rail
to take over all the leases.
"We will be able to lift the whole area. What we want is to
create a mini-Camden Market in Glasgow city centre.
"Other cities in Europe would bite your hand off for this type
of opportunity.
"It's near the Clyde and all the regeneration in St Enoch and
the Merchant City.
"We see this as a tourist destination, an arts and crafts market
and a cultural venue.
"We have a lot of different cultures in the city now and they
all might want the chance to produce some of their wares."
Councillor Ryan said he would not shut the door on some existing
traders - provided they were responsible.
However, he added: "It is the death-knell for the anti-social
element. We want to move all that out.
"We want to up the bar of what we expect of a market right in
the heart of the city. We want to bring in a better class of retail
there.
"It could be a good venue for young aspiring artists to take up
space to sell their wares, with a cultural element of people from
different ethnic backgrounds."
A report due to come before the council's executive committee
says the level of crime at Paddy's Market "threatens to undermine
the investment in the Merchant City".
The cost of addressing all the problems in the area was put last
year at £277,000, which included charges by police, Customs and
Excise, the city council and the Federation Against Copyright
Theft.
Network Rail, which owns the arches where the market traders
congregate, receives annual rent of around £130,000.
Steve Inch, the council's director of development and
regeneration services, said: "Discussions have indicated it should
be possible to secure the lease of Paddy's Market at a rental
considerably below that charged to existing tenants.
"This reflects a recognition by Network Rail of the problems in
the area and their corporate social responsibility' to help resolve
them."
Local councillor Gordon Matheson, who has been closely involved
in the negotiations, said he was delighted an agreement was in
sight.
He added: "The community I represent has suffered for long
enough and Glasgow can no longer tolerate what I've called a
crime-ridden midden'."
Mr Matheson said anyone who had a sense of nostalgia for
what Paddy's Market previously represented "only has to walk
through it to see it has long since lost its way".
He added: "The cost of buying out the lease is very good value
because the taxpayers of Glasgow are paying a small fortune to
police to clean up this area.
"Glasgow has moved on and we will not be dragged down by a
blight which detracts from our efforts to regenerate the city.
"We present ourselves quite rightly as a vibrant and cultural
city which is a good place to live and work and visit. Paddy's
Market does not fit with that ambition."
He said he hoped the area would become part of the Merchant City
arts scene.
A Network Rail spokesman said: "We're in talks with the council
regarding the long-term future of the market."
Reproduced with the permission of The Evening Times(Glasgow) ©
Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd.