This is a subject I’ve been asked a few times. The question, “Why did the council build homes in the Public Park?”. I can answer this in some detail. In December 1977, a growing petition was circulating in Blantyre after residents heard of the Council’s plans to utilise some of the public park for new housing.
For many people, it seems unfathomable that Hamilton District Council would choose a long established public park to create new sheltered homes. For people especially in Station Road, there was a lot of protest and by the end of 1977, almost 230 people had signed the petition against the development.
The council were proposing using the south western end of the park to build 26 sheltered homes for elderly and disabled people. Protestors argued that the houses were being built in the most beautiful part of the park and would significantly remove the aesthetics of the adjacent archway.
The Council took a hardline approach to these protests counterattacks saying campaigners against the development were being ‘selfish’. The group however, did understand fully the need for more housing, but just didn’t want it in the park and even suggested other suitable sites.
The objectors decided to meet Blantyre Community Council and put forward their case why the development should not be built in the park. Then Councillors had their turn and argued why the houses should be built there, citing reasons such as proximity to shops and other amenities. After listening to both sides carefully, the Community Council voted with councillors lending their support to planning that the development should go ahead.
In later months, George McInally, a councillor was pressed to issue a statement and advised the decision by planning to build the houses was based on taking into consideration the redevelopment of Glasgow Road and the imminent demolition of tenements. The thought was that with buildings removed, the park would actually be LARGER, with grass right up to the Glasgow Road, where at the time buildings were located.
And so the rest is history. The houses were built shortly after and an area of the park which once had beautiful flowerbeds and trellises was lost forever.
To illustrate, the Sheltered Housing in this article is pictured in Stonefield Public Park just after Covid lockdown was lifted.
