GLASGOW City Council is embroiled in a fresh row over the city’s best known civic space, as it emerged plans to revamp George Square have been put on hold.
Opposition leaders on the authority said the promised £15 million overhaul of the square was now “in tatters” after the council said there were no imminent plans to complete the job.
Work already carried out on George Square since outgoing leader of the council Gordon Matheson announced he wanted a totally new civic heart for Glasgow has also been branded “nothing more than a sticking plaster”, as the long- running saga comes back to dog his final days in office.
Meanwhile, the professional body for all chartered architects in Scotland has called on the new regime expected to take over the running of the council in the coming weeks to revisit the scheme.
The Royal Incorporation of Architects (RIAS) said the square was too important to be "left in its current shabby state".
Mr Matheson binned his competition to redesign the square at the last minute amid a public backlash against the plans.
It sparked a bitter fall-out with high-profile figures within the architectural community, with Mr Matheson instead approving a makeover for the square in time for the Commonweath Games and promising a £15m upgrade once the event had concluded.
But it has emerged now there are no definite plans pencilled in for the square.
Susan Aitken, leader of the SNP on the council, said: “After the fanfare of their plans for a redesigned George Square, and Gordon Matheson’s personal catastrophe after pulling plans for the city’s civic heart, we now have a series of broken promises and smoke and mirrors.
“Labour’s pledge to ‘revamp and completely refurbish’ George Square is now in tatters.”
Neil Baxter, head of RIAS, said: "The myth that the public had no appetite for change has been repeatedly spun, ever since the then council leader, who was on a mission to remove the statues, threw his toys out of the pram and cancelled the project.
"Let's hope new leadership will bring fresh thinking and work with and for, the people of Glasgow to create a public focus worthy of this great city."
A council spokesman: “We had intended to come back to committee with a report, but this was delayed.
“The funding for George Square work is linked to the Buchanan Galleries tax increment finance scheme and there is now a delay to that project.
“However, we still plan to bring proposals to councillors as soon as practicably possible.”
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