Councillor says Clydeside area is ‘like a ghetto’ with drugs and graffiti

People smoking hash and painting “frightening” graffiti are blighting the banks of the river Clyde in the city centre according to a councillor who branded it a “ghetto.” James Scanlon, Labour Southside central councillor, asked what the council is doing to help tackle the “proliferation of graffiti and anti-social behaviour along the Clydeside.” Speaking at a full council meeting on Thursday, he said residents have complained about the graffiti in the Clydeside area – calling it “hideous, tasteless, provocative and frightening.” He said: “Two weeks ago my wife and I walked around that stretch and the smell of hash was unbelievable. I had a sore head for 24 hours.”Commenting on the stretch, he said: “It is absolutely hideous and the area has been described as “ghetto like.” He added that a dedicated legal graffiti wall in the area was supposed to be from Stockwell Street along to Jamaica Street, which he said was not “enough.” Councillor Ruairi Kelly, SNP, said the details of the legal wall were voted through by Labour Councillor Scanlon and other city politicians in September 2023 to “look at new ways of addressing a long standing problem” of graffiti in the city. He added: “There is...