Plans to inject new life into one of Glasgow’s local town centres, to attract new people and businesses, are being developed.

Saracen Street in Possilpark is in one of the council’s Living Neighbourhood Plans, from Ruchill to Cowlairs.

The proposals include creating better public spaces and safer walking routes to and from schools and also to and from the main shopping street from the surrounding communities.

Saracen Cross, is at the heart of the area, and an asset, still thriving with shops and few empty units compared with other parts of the city.

Millennium Square is the area beside the cross and has become characterised as a ‘concrete jungle’ and an underused space.

Glasgow Times:

Already improvements are underway on Saracen Street, with new planters on the street and an initiative to improve the shop fronts with a heritage style signage, part of a ‘Remaking Saracen’ campaign, with local businesses.

Re-developing the square and the north end of Saracen Street towards Hawthorn Street are seen as key to lifting the appearance.

Glasgow Times:

Ideas for the square include a traders market and an event space for local people and community groups.

The plans also involve improving the pavements and lighting in the area to make it feel safer.

Demolitions to schools, houses and community facilities either side of Saracen Street over recent decades have left waste ground, overgrown with weeds and filled with litter.

Glasgow Times:

Local people, in a consultation, wanted these areas transformed to create green spaces, outdoor seating and safer paths from the residential areas to the main street.

The report identifies a number of interventions in Possilpark and the wider area.

Several projects will be selected and taken forward to a design stage.

Plans include: “Millennium Park Revisited - Work with local community to improve the place quality of the ‘concrete jungle’.

“Brothers Path (Balmore Road to Saracen Street) - Improve path and lighting to create safe pedestrian route along desire line.

Glasgow Times:

“North Saracen Street Placemaking - Improvements to provide reduce car space to quieter street to create more pedestrian friendly public space.”

A Council report states: “The Living Neighbourhood Plan approach is based on implementation at the scale of large urban neighbourhood areas.

“The process will be led with public participation helping to identify a series of thematic interventions in their local communities, whilst also delivering on the necessary city scale interventions required.”