Where are they now?

Royston and the anti-immigrant rumours

When The Bell first reported on false rumours of new asylum accommodation in Royston and the divisive protests that followed, it was early July. National flags hadn’t yet been hoisted up street lamps across the UK, and there hadn’t been much reporting on a new wave of anti-refugee sentiment bubbling in Scotland. 

A lot has changed in five months: protests about asylum accommodation in Falkirk, Perth and Inverness made national headlines, and The Bell uncovered the neo-nazi raising Saltires in Summerston, Milton and Maryhill. 

In Royston, though, Councillor Anthony Carroll tells me things have calmed down. A series of meetings between the owners of 325 Royston Road and the local community were largely successful in easing tensions: “it helped to clear the picture and quell the online rumours and agitations coming from certain ‘influencers’ to try and basically gather some clicks,” he tells me, “because I think that’s all it was”.

But on the day we speak in late November, another protest has just taken place down the road in Dalmarnock, this time about English classes for non-native speakers being provided at a local primary school. Once again, the protest was promoted by anti-immigration YouTuber and podcaster Craig Houston, who was also at the centre of the Royston protests. 

“This is the issue we still need to be tackling,” Carroll says. “Are these grifters coming round, community to community, to find things to exploit, especially about refugees and asylum seekers?” Houston told Calum on the day of the Dalmarnock protest that he doesn’t stoke the protests, but merely covers them for his media outlet. —  Eve Livingston

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Dalmarnock and its “fucking bath”

Things seemed to move pretty quickly after The Bell reported that a Commonwealth Games legacy project in the heart of Dalmarnock had fallen into disarray.

Hundreds of dwellings built to house the 2014 athletes had long since been turned into a desirable residential development, but phase two of the project had stalled. The strip of land in question had become an unsightly dumping ground whose crowning glory was, as one local resident told us, “a fucking bath”.

Following The Bell’s report, an amended proposal for the development was duly signed off. Hopes were high that work on the 125-home project — made up of 67 houses for sale and 58 for social rent — would get under way by the end of this year, but so far no dice.

Back in March local resident Stephen Thomas told us the phase-two development was the “last bit of the jigsaw” of the post-2014 regeneration that has otherwise transformed Dalmarnock. When we catch up with him at the end of November he confirms the fly-tipping was dealt with soon after our article went out but that little has happened since. “There’s been a little bit of activity relating to services being laid next to the site, but other than that there’s no sign of fencing going up or the site being cleared to begin work,” he says.

All is not lost, though. Councillor Ruairi Kelly, city convener for housing and development at Glasgow City Council, tells us the final changes to the legal agreements for the development, which did not originally include rental properties, are expected to be signed off soon. Sources within the council have told him they expect the developers to be on site “at the beginning of the year”.

It's not the legacy that was promised, but it does now at least look probable that the ground on phase two will be broken before the second edition of Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games gets under way in July. — Margaret Taylor

The CCA shutdown

The summer was one of protests, mostly in the name of Palestine, with crowds at weekly vigils and rallies calling on various institutions to boycott Israel. One of Glasgow’s most dramatic took place at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) on 24 June. Organised by the group Art Workers for Palestine Scotland, participants gathered outside the locked glass doors of the Sauchiehall Street arts venue. They were met by police officers and a standoff ensued. Officers arrested a woman who suffered a broken leg as she was taken into custody. 

The fallout was extreme. The CCA remained shut for two months, citing “safety” concerns, and we reported that artists who were exhibiting at the time were seeking at the very least an apology, while there were calls for the entire board to resign. 

Since reopening in late August, the CCA has hosted several successful events and attempted to return to business as usual, following what the institution described as a “time of reflection”. The organisation hasn’t met a key demand of the protestors — endorsement of the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). Seven of the nine board members have resigned, including the former chair, Jean Cameron. Still in position is Steve Slater, acting director of venue and operations, who drew the ire of the protestors by, as they see it, colluding with the police in a “premeditated brutalisation” of their community. 

Two of the artists The Bell spoke to originally still want public apologies from CCA management. Clay AD, whose exhibition everything is borrowed was curtailed by the protest and the CCA’s closure, reopened their show in October to complete its run. But the interdisciplinary artist told me they agreed to the reopening on the proviso that a CCA meeting on PACBI was to take place in November, something which is yet to happen. Martin Vincent of Aye-Aye books — who received an eviction notice from the CCA after 17 years of tenancy — has since left and set up shop in Broadside in Govanhill, which he says is “good”.

Art Workers for Palestine Scotland say they’re still calling on the CCA to formally endorse PACBI and that the so-called “liberated zone” protests would “return in 2026”.

Last week the CCA named “results-driven executive” Muse Greenwood as its new board chair, with “stakeholder” meetings planned for the new year. All eyes on 2026. — Calum

Mackintosh buildings and their challenges

This year we revealed that the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society was in turmoil. First it was an April tussle over the sale of some historic pews, then in August The Bell discovered that the organisation, under the contentious leadership of director Stuart Robertson, sat on a fire suppression report for Mackintosh’s only church, Queen’s Cross, for almost three years. We established at the time of reporting that there was no suppression system active or in construction at the Mackintosh Church, which serves as the home of the society. This delay was despite a 2023 presentation to the AGM which recommended the installation of a system as a matter of the highest priority. We asked Robertson and chairman Michael Dale for an update on the installation of the suppression system. We are yet to receive a response. 

As for pews news, well, you may recall our story about the leadership of the society allowing pews from the very same Queen’s Cross church to be sawn up and sold for £80 — which the council concluded had breached planning conditions. Council officials are yet to decide on an enforcement action, having pondered the matter for seven months now. The reason for the delay? The Mackintosh Society has applied retrospectively to change its listed building application to allow for the “permanent removal” of the pews and modesty panels — never mind that the former have been dismantled and the latter are missing entirely. In Kafkaesque fashion, the council is deferring its decision on the enforcement case while they await the outcome of the listed building application. 

In June, Robertson announced he would be stepping down as society director. Dale, the chairman, told us that because the appointment of a new director is a “very important decision for us and for Glasgow”, the trustees have decided to delay an announcement until January. The drawn out process to find a replacement, funnily enough, will leave just enough time for Robertson to celebrate his silver anniversary at the society, and will mark almost a year since he first faced calls to resign over the pews debacle. — Robbie

Laurieston and its reinvention

Sent out to report for The Bell on the present and future of North Laurieston, in light of a newfangled ‘masterplan’, I assumed pretty much everyone would be in favour of regeneration and investment in this neglected gem just south of the city centre. To my surprise, I encountered a focus on not the big picture, but the wee: long-held frustrations over consistent failures by authorities to fix small but important nuisances such as street lights, bins and car-dominated streets.

Spades are very much in the ground as a result of Glasgow City Council’s Avenues initiative, which aims to better connect South Portland Street as it stretches from the Clyde south through Laurieston. Not only this, but the old Co-op building on Bridge Street, which has an entirely marble-bricked rear, is up for sale. The five-storey, 17,500 square foot building is on the market for £2 million. The advert notes that student accommodation, serviced apartments or even a hotel could be developed onsite — all subject to planning permission, of course. Judging by the photos in the listing, any of those options would require serious investment. That gives a clue as to what residents in the area can hope for in the next few years. Out with warehouses and empty space, in with residents and productive commercial units. 

In October, The Bell revealed that the Laurieston Bar’s new owner is actually Paul Cardow of PCL Presents and Broadcast fame. He keeps a low profile, not wanting to reveal it was he who’d bought the pub because — he told me when I met him in his St George’s Cross office — that he’s a fan of the pub and doesn’t want the attention of being its owner. It could also be because Broadcast had a bitter dispute with staff who complained about pay and working conditions, and he doesn’t want that shadow following him south of the river. But Cardow has left the Laurieston largely unchanged since buying it in March 2024. 

The masterplan seeks to completely redefine North Laurieston and is in the second stage of its consultation, which incorporates public feedback from stage one into the plans. Then, it'll be time to finalise the masterplan and submit it to the council. But don’t rush, you’re not going to miss anything. The masterplan says longer term projects and their funding bids will take place between “2027 to 2035”. — Calum 

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