Rape Crisis Scotland join calls for u-turn on Glasgow parks lighting
Glasgow City Council says it doesn't encourage people to use parks at night
Last updated 8th Nov 2021
One of Scotland's most prominent campaigners for womens' safety is calling for Glasgow to think again about lighting up parks at night and says the authority is sending out completely the wrong message.
Last week the city council told Clyde 1 News they didn't want to encourage people to use spaces like Kelvingrove after dark, and that installing additional lighting would be damaging to wildlife.
Sandy Bindley from Rape Crisis Scotland is joining the voices calling for a u-turn.
"It's the least we can expect from our public authorities to take reasonable steps to make places safe, particularly for women, when we are going about our business,” she told us.
Scotland’s dark winters
"We're not talking about going into parks at midnight, but this is Scotland in the winter where it is dark from about 4pm.
"Is the council really saying that public spaces should be no-go areas for women outwith working hours? I think that's unacceptable.
"So many women who've experienced sexual crime can fee responsible for what's happened to them, or to question their own actions. and I think it's really important to be clear that we should be able to go where we want to.
"I do really feel the council should reflect on the tone of their messaging in this context. What are they saying about effectively making parts no-go areas for women after 4pm in winter in Scotland.”
First Minster calls for talks
The First Minister's calling for talks to resolve the row about lighting and safety in Glasgow's parks.
She told us: "We all have a common interest in reaching the right balance about how we want these public spaces used, and safety - especially for women - is of paramount importantance."
Cop26 lockdown sparks park safety debate
The debate over lighting in the park was reignited last Monday when a police diversion around a Royal reception at Kelvingrove Art Gallery to mark the start of the Cop26 summit forced women to walk through a dimly lit area of the park to get home.
Generator powered lights were also put in place in some areas, which is something campaigners have been calling for years to improve safety and there were hopes this would be made permanent.
Colin Edgar Head of Communications at Glasgow City Council said: "In general, we don't light our parks at night and we don't encourage people to use our parks at night except for temporary lighting for events.
"We take the view that our parks are not places for people to be in the evening and that's really shown by the fact that when people were wrongly diverted there on Monday, it really wasn't the right place for them to be.
"The kind of extensive lighting that would be needed to make a park feel completely safe to someone in the hours of darkness is really not compatible with the nature that needs to live and thrive in our parks.
“We market and design them as day time spaces and design other well-lit active travel routes for people to use in the evening."