The story of how Kinning Park Neighbourhood Centre was saved (Part 1)

Thank you to our wonderful volunteer Lesley for the following blog!

This is part 1 of 3 blogs detailing how Kinning Park Complex was saved from closure in 1996. Watch this space for the next chapter of the story!

A bit of background …

In 1976 Strathclyde Regional Council converted a Victorian schoolhouse on Cornwall Street in Kinning Park into a neighbourhood centre.

The Kinning Park Neighbourhood Centre was overseen by Glasgow City Council and hosted a variety of educational, sport and leisure classes as well as an afterschool club for the community. The Council managed and staffed the neighbourhood centre, but over time ceased doing any repairs on the building owing to the costly upgrading required.

Following local government reorganisation in 1996, which abolished the Strathclyde Region, Glasgow City Council faced severe budgetary constraints that threatened various services with proposed spending cuts of £68 million for the 1996-97 financial year. The budget cuts involved the closure of schools, old people’s homes, day centres, public halls, and community centres.

During March 1996, there had been rumours that the Neighbourhood Centre was to be closed as part of this round of cuts. The building users objected to this decision and began a campaign to keep the Centre open, arguing that the community needed public spaces like this to practice arts, sports, music and community events.

Over three months a vigorous campaign was fought culminating in the Centre being occupied from 3 May to 27 June 1996.

The following is a timeline of events throughout the campaign demonstrating the energy, creativity and determination of the people who fought successfully to keep Kinning Park Neighbourhood Centre open.

So how did it all start … 

7/3  Council cuts

KPC campaigners march on George Square. This image is from the Protests & Suffragettes archive.

Glasgow City Council's shadow budget is set, identifying the massive financial deficit and general need for service closures including community centres.

14/3

Rumours start to circulate that Kinning Park Neighbourhood Centre would be included in these round of cuts.

15/3 Campaign officially starts

A campaign to protest a closure officially began on the 15th March 1996 when over 500 local people signed a petition to save the Centre.

21/3

The building users organised a march to the city centre to hand the petition to the Council in the City Chambers for the attention of Councillor Shaukat Butt. The march went from the Centre on Cornwall Street, along Paisley Road West and toward the city centre crossing George Square. The local MP at the time was Mike Watson and both MP Watson and Councillor Butt were asked to support the campaign.

27/3

Notification of intention to close the building was given by the Community Education Department to some Centre user groups.

9/4

A ‘Save the Neighbourhood Centre’ meeting was held in the Centre with Mike Watson MP and a representative from Community Education in attendance. Over 40 parents, friends and users of the Centre attended despite it being Easter weekend. The meeting was able to make a strong objection to the closure and assert why it was a necessity for it to remain open. The Kinning Park Community Newspaper alerted Centre users and the local community about the intended closure.

12/4 Closure date pushed back

The ‘Save the Neighbourhood Centre’ meeting was successful and the official closure date was extended.

16/4

The Management Committee again met with Mike Watson MP and Community Education who advised that if the group could produce a viable proposal there would be consideration given to the Centre remaining open. The conditions were that the Management Committee at Kinning Park would team up with a third sector organisation to prove to the Council that the Centre could feasibly run independently.

The Management Committee was mainly comprised of parents and staff from the Schools Out Service (an afterschool club that used the Centre) and some building users who went on to collaborate with Scotland in Europe to form a grassroots third sector and community coalition (see below).

The Evening Times newspaper carried the story nationally.

18/4

KPC campaigners discuss the way forward. This image is from the Protests & Suffragettes archive.

Contact was made by Scotland in Europe arts and drama group representative Helen Kyle and a representative of Cardonald College in response to the article in the Evening Times.

Helen was a local woman and activist who ran her own community arts organisation called Scotland in Europe which used the Centre as a rehearsal space. Helen became involved in the campaign and the negotiations with the Council, leading to Scotland in Europe and the Management Committee at that time drawing up a joint proposal to put the building into community hands.

Helen actively tried to engage the mothers of the children in the afterschool care club who used the Centre in politics: “…we organised a committee of the people who used the Centre, it was dominated by young mothers, this was the first time that any of these young women had been involved in what would be termed ‘low level politics’ in a sense.” (Nolan, L.J. 2015, p.100)

19/4

A meeting was held between Scotland in Europe and the Management Committee regarding a viable proposal to self run the Centre. The MP and Councillor were advised of contacts made and discussions held to date.

22/4

A Community Council meeting was held and the representative from Community Education heard the Councillor's objections to proposed closures. Further to this meeting the Community Council met with the MP to register their objection to the closure.

The Evening Times ran another story on behalf of users.

27/4 Eighty children and adults march

A rally was organised to show the strength of feeling about proposals to close the facility. Eighty children and adults marched within the area accompanied by Mike Watson MP and Councillor Butt under the auspices of the local police.

The Evening Times covered the event.

30/4

The Management Committee meet with Scotland in Europe to finalise the proposal to keep the Centre open.

The Evening Times ran an article about the proposal.

2/5

A Property Services official advised that the proposal was unsatisfactory and the Centre would close on the Friday 3/5/96. The Property Services official had given a lifeline by asking the Committee to produce an improved deal for six weeks time.

“The ambitious plan proposed by the Management Committee and Scotland in Europe had promise and if allowed we would have done our damndest to make it work. But the 'powers that be' did not give it a chance but suggested that we try again in six weeks time.” (Kinning Park Newsletter May 1996, p.1).

Part 2 of this blog will go on to describe the sit in and occupation …

Sources

Anonymous (1996, March 2nd) Flight to Disaster. The Herald. Available at https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12121218.flight-to-disaster/

Kinning Park Neighbourhood Centre (1996) Kinning Park Community Newspaper May 1996. Available at Spirit of Revolt Archive (p.3/4) https://archive.org/details/KinningparkSitIn_201310/page/n3/mode/2up

Nolan, L.J. (2015) Space, Politics and Community: The Case of Kinning Park Complex. PhD thesis. University of Glasgow. Available at https://www.academia.edu/64047712/Space_politics_and_community_the_case_of_Kinning_Park_Complex