Glasgow is to review how it handles parades in the city after a consultation revealed a majority of people believe there are too many.
Most respondents also thought the council, event organisers and Police Scotland should do more to limit the negative impact of processions, officials have reported.
A consultation was set up following “outbreaks of violence and disorder at processions in Govan and the city centre” in August and September 2019.
READ MORE: Seven arrested at Glasgow Orange walks as thousands take to city streets
That disorder led to the council’s public processions committee taking the “unprecedented decision” to ban six processions planned for 14/15 September 2019.
The findings have been revealed in a council report ahead of a review of its code of conduct on processions.
In total, 8,616 responses were received, one of the highest response rates to a consultation on the council website — 97% were from individuals, 1% from businesses and 2% from representatives of groups or organisations.
Six in ten individuals who responded believe the city has too many parades while half believed there are too many in their area. Around one in 10 felt there were too few.
More than half of individual respondents (56%) believed parades had a negative impact on their local area. Of these, 95% said anti-social behaviour and the potential for violence and intimidation were concerns.
And individuals who thought parades had a negative effect “overwhelmingly agreed” the council (97%) and event organisers (98%) should do more to limit their impact.
However, just 13% of organisations said there were too many processions and 31% claimed there were too few. Three quarters of representatives for organisation stated parades have a positive impact on Glasgow.
Some respondents believe there is discrimination by Glasgow City Council against certain groups, particularly Orange and Loyalist organisations as other events, such as music festivals, don’t receive the same scrutiny.
Organisations which took part included: Orange Order (53%), Apprentice Boys of Derry (13%), flute band members (9%), All Under One Banner (1%) and community councils (2%).
A number of respondents indicated “certain religious parades and processions were sectarian in nature and did not reflect the city or its residents”, the report added. “Comment was made that specific parades were divisive and caused division amongst communities, and were not inclusive of everyone.”
Other respondents said there should be an outright ban on processions that in the past had broken the code of conduct or resulted “in any form of criminal behaviour”. Some people wanted parades to be limited to certain areas or reduced in size.
The council report stated: “Individuals and businesses were more likely to disagree that there was currently a balance between the rights of participants in parades and processions and the rights of communities.
“The main reasons respondents felt rights were not balanced was due to a lack of opportunity to object, no consultation with communities and the significant disruption. Representatives of groups and organisations were more likely to agree that rights were currently balanced.”
It added: “Respondents generally did not view all parades and processions the same and indicated that they should not be treated the same as a result.
“Spectators and followers, rather than participants, were highlighted as being responsible for causing the majority of problems associated with parades and processions.”
Consultation was carried out pre-pandemic but progress has been delayed by covid when parades were restricted. Since then, the Scottish Government has also agreed to look into the issue and is expected to publish a report shortly.
Glasgow’s consultation on the impact of parades and processions saw the council set up an online survey while market research firm Ipsos MORI formed focus groups and carried out interviews with procession organisers and other stakeholders.
Councillors will be asked on Thursday to support the re-establishment of a cross-party group to discuss a new code of conduct and policy on processions for the city. Once agreed, the draft policy would go to the city administration committee for approval.
The current code of conduct requires organisers to give at least 28 days’ notice of plans for a parade. Rules include one steward to every 10 expected participants, providing breaks for pedestrians to cross and avoiding residential areas where practical.
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