Glasgow City Council refuses to bring forward George Square opening for Commonwealth Games

The city’s main square is currently closed for a revamp and will still be shut off when the Games come to Glasgow next summer.

It is set to reopen in August - the same month the Games finish - but the council has ruled out accelerating the project.

During a House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee session in Glasgow, Glasgow Life Director of Culture, Tourism and Events Billy Garrett said: “My understanding at the moment is that it will not be open until just after the Commonwealth Games.”

The council’s sport convenor Annette Christie said: “It was very important for the City Council, although as enthusiastic as we are for welcoming the games that they would not hinder our day to day business and supporting our ambitions for the city and for the people of the city.

“And that’s why the works for George Square went ahead as planned.”

When asked by Lib Dem MP Angus MacDonald why the project had not been accelerated, Head of Communities & Regulatory Services at Glasgow City Council Denise Hamilton said: “It’s a major infrastructure project which has taken years of planning to get to the point where there’s a spade in the ground where we are now.

“I think everyone’s disappointed the square’s not going to be available. But at the end of the process, we’ll have an amazing square for the people of Glasgow and people coming into Glasgow.

“ I think if there was opportunities, they will have been scoped out. And unfortunately, the square will not be open at the time the Games will be here.”

When Mr MacDonald asked if there was something that could be done to get the project brought forward by a couple of months, Ms Hamilton said: “That’s not something I can comment on here today.

“As I say, it’s been years in the planning to get to the point where we are currently in the process of digging up the square and that, as anyone that’s involved with major infrastructure project knows, it’s not easy to change the final year of the project, given the amount of planning it’s taken to get to this point.”

George Square was a popular visitor hub when the Commonwealth Games came to Glasgow in 2014.

It hosted the Big G sculpture which was a photo opportunity for visitors and it was a place where people congregated throughout the games.

Glasgow was announced as the host for next year’s Commonwealth Games in September last year after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew.

The Games will be drastically scaled down because no UK public money is being put towards it. The funding is primarily being funded as compensation from the Victorian Government.

It will feature 11 sports taking place over four venues, and there will be no athletes’ village.