No supermarket for Castlemilk despite promises

Charlie Gallagher has to pay £8 for a taxi home as she struggles to carry heavy shopping bags

A neighbourhood on the outskirts of Glasgow where locals have been campaigning for a supermarket is still waiting for progress despite being promised a "household name" store two years ago.

In 2022, after years of fighting for a major store serving affordable fresh food, Castlemilk was promised a new supermarket through £3.3m worth of funding from Glasgow City Council.

The money was awarded to the new owners of the run-down Braes Shopping Centre to develop the precinct and attract business.

To date, about £450,000 of the funding has been released to allow environmental work which will be beginning soon, the council said.

It said the original proposals for the project had not changed. But the community is still waiting for a store.

People who live in Castlemilk have to travel three miles to the nearest supermarket

The Scotsman Group, which bought the Braes in 2020, said it was "committed to the process" of attracting a supermarket to the area.

But BBC Scotland News has learned that no UK supermarkets will be building shops in Castlemilk in the near future.

We asked Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, The Co-operative, M&S Food and Waitrose if they had any plans to open stores within the area.

None of them did.

Currently, the closest supermarket is nearly three miles away in Toryglen, which means many Castlemilk residents are forced to travel via bus or taxi to get food shopping.

'Human rights'

Anna Stuart has lived in Castlemilk for 45 years, campaigning on local issues from affordable housing to access to healthy and affordable food.

She says the area, specifically the Braes Shopping Centre, has deteriorated in this time.

“It's like a war zone," she said. "The smell of dampness is unbelievable. At the front, you've got the small units, a nail bar, you've got a sandwich shop, and you've got Iceland.

"But if you had an Aldi or a Lidl, the fruit would be a lot cheaper.

“We used to have a baby shop, we had a fashion shop, the butchers, the fishmongers, everything, and now what have we got? It's all frozen food."

She added: "That's one of the things our human rights say, that we should have access to decent housing and decent healthy food. The housing part, we're managing that, but the healthy food, no.”

Anna Stuart wants access to fresh food - she says there is little choice at the local shopping centre

In a statement, a Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “Work to the value of £450,000 on the project has already taken place, with environmental work beginning soon.

"This work will significantly improve the quality of the shopping centre, making the centre more attractive and accessible while enabling space for a new supermarket there.

"The original proposals for the project have not changed and we continue to support the redevelopment.”

The Scotsman Group said it submitted a detailed planning application for the first phase of the project 20 months ago following a six month pre-application process.

A spokesperson said: "This, thankfully, has just been approved, which will allow the next stage of the development to begin."

They added that they could not access any funding until statutory consents were in place.

"Whilst we currently cannot comment on a potential operator, we have very regular meetings with the community council and Glasgow City Council who we keep fully advised of progress on all matters.”

The council confirmed to BBC Scotland News that for the remaining funding to be released to The Scotsman Group, further plans would need to be submitted and approved.

'We need to be listened to'

Charlie Gallagher, 36, volunteers in Castlemilk. She also suffers from fibromylagia. This is a long-term syndrome which causes pain all over the body. Maintaining a healthy diet is important to her health.

To get her food shopping, she needs to take a 20-minute bus journey to the nearest supermarket, but she’s forced to take an £8 taxi home as she struggles to carry heavy shopping bags.

She said: “It impacts me a lot because I end up having to buy loads of frozen food, which means most of the week I'm eating chicken goujons, chicken nuggets, these sorts of things because when I'm working all week - and I do a lot in my community - I'm always busy. When I go home at night I've got to just take what's there.

“I feel like the people in Castlemilk need to be listened to more, that's the issue, we fight so hard for the services in our community, because they're important to us."

'A great community'

Gary Burns' children have specific dietary needs

Gary Burns is a former wrestler and stuntman. He has four children, two of whom are autistic. They have specific dietary needs which means he has to buy certain food.

“Recently being told that we're not getting a supermarket, it's a bit of a let-down. It’s disappointing because there's so many shops not getting used. When I first moved here, every one of those shops were open.”

Gary does have a car but worries about the cost of petrol when having to drive further afield to access a supermarket.

“Both my kids have specific diets because of sensory needs so if I was to do the shop right now maybe Iceland would have a bit, B&M, and then I'd maybe have to use the Co-op down at Croftfoot. I'm fortunate, but if you've not got a car that's a lot of walking.

“So, a supermarket in the area with easy bus and taxi access, that would be great.”

Glasgow City Council told BBC Scotland News that environmental work at the Braes Shopping Centre would not guarantee the arrival of a supermarket in the area.