Top neighbourhood award for West End

This evening, I attended an event organised by Friends of Glasgow West in Hillhead Library to celebrate the West End of Glasgow winning the Great Neighbourhood Award at the 2014 Academy of Urbanism Awards. 

This award is a major boost to businesses and residents who are involved in initiatives to enhance and promote the area's culture, facilities and heritage. At the start of the year, there were concerns expressed about the number of vacant shop units on Byres Road and it is heartening to see new shops opening up on the street in time for the festive season. I am continuing my commitment to support the local high street retailers and businesses, giving my backing to the development a business improvement district for Byres Road. 

The cultural events including gigs and art shows taking place in the West End continue to attract a wide range of visitors and maintain the area as a great place to live. Poetry and literature are promoted through the Hillhead library which is a much valued community resource. As part of the award, a poem has been presented to the area by the Academy of Urbanism.

WEST END, GLASGOW 
by Ian McMillan, Academy of Urbanism Poet in Residence 2013

When you get to Glasgow, head straight out to the West,
In the Botanic Gardens, the light streams through the glass.
And you may have seen some West Ends - but this one is the best
Down Byres Road and Ashton Lane, the West End people pass.

And the music of the West End plays its rhythm in your ear,
A rhythm built on learning, built on thinking, built through time.
If you want food or drink or conversation find it here;
The West End's a location where past and future rhyme.

The West End is a novel with a quickly moving plot,
The West End is a film where each location lifts your heart;
It sometimes feels there's nothing that the West End hasn't got:
It's got sleeping places, strolling places, spaces full of art.

So grasp the West End tightly, please don't sit on the shelf:
Help the West End make an exhibition of itself.

I hope local residents will put pen to paper and come up with their own poems to celebrate the success of the West End.