AIBU to think that big events aren't always good for locals?

[GlasgowCityCouncilAgain]

Glasgow and Scotland generally are hosting the UCI Cycling World Championships which is great. I'm very happy for us to host events and invite people to visit our city, particularly as we aren't nearly so touristy as Edinburgh. However is it too much to ask that locals are allowed to go about their business with minimal disruption and is it acceptable that businesses have been forced to shut their stores because they can't gain access? This has happened to a business that I'm very fond of and they aren't the only ones. They don't even know if they'll be able to gain access tomorrow though they were promised it today.

It's shit for the tourists too who may want to frequent local businesses like that and can't.

AIBU to think that businesses and locals should not lose out when a city is hosting an event?

I remember the chaos of the 2012 Olympics w all the priority lanes across the whole city! That went on forever, AND we paid a big additional Olympics subvention on our Council tax to pay for it, without getting any special priority for tickets or anything.

So long as it’s just disruption, I think it has to be borne… it’s when things are really really damaged - like in the park I mentioned up
the thread. Very little green space in the area; most of it walled off for Weeks for the event, and then returned in a state that means it’ll need huge reparative works and also shouldn’t be walked on at all for months…

Yeah irs not great really, I have friends who live near the stirling route, where my dd works its restricted access and a few businesses have had to close but yayy cycling eh!

I agree, my area is pretty disrupted due to the same event in Glasgow. Various local authorities in and bordering GCC have diverted staffing to the areas being cycled through. While it's great that events are happening and bringing some related tourism money it would be helpful if same LA's brought in additional staffing to keep on top of the regular jobs in areas rather than relying on teams of often just 2 to cover enormous areas. On a separate note, it never fails to shock me just how incompetent leadership is in local authorities here in Scotland. The decision makers are very often just not equipped with the skills to effectively deliver a quality service. Perhaps if some people were brought in from private sector this would change. It's frustrating!!

I live in a costal town that hosts a 'free' 4 day airshow every summer. Apart from takeaways, restaurants , stall holders and hotels in the town centre, many of the local business lose out on custom. Also highly inconvenient for the people living here (disrupted traffic, anti social behaviour etc). No one here knows whether it actually does benefit the town, or even breaks even

Not just Glasgow City Council. We are in East Dunbartonshire and the road race is coming through here tomorrow I think, and there's another road race next weekend. Their maps like this one

oops

https://www.traffic.gov.scot/uci-road-race

are bloody hopeless and you can't zoom to see what roads are closed and what ones aren't. There are lots of digital signs around Glasgow saying that roads will be closed, not which ones and when.

I am hugely in favour of large scale events in Glasgow and have volunteered at similar events in the past. But not everyone wants everything to shut for the cycling and businesses should be able to trade as normal. I was also involved in the filming of the Batgirl movie which involved the closure of Ingram Street for three consecutive nights 8am - midnight, and that obviously meant bars and restaurants couldn't trade. The producers agreed compensation with them.

I live in Edinburgh so I 100% agree! When the Festival and Hogmanay were cancelled because of COVID it was great. There was a real chance to try and reset these events after the pandemic to make them more sustainable and less disruptive to locals but sadly money making trumped everything.

And remember during Cop26 when they had a VIP reception at the Kelvingrove, banned foot access and sent lone women on a walking diversion through a pitch dark park?

That's the Council for you.

@TenOhSeven I worked in various tourist related businesses on the Royal Mile when I was a student, hated August. After work I had to run the gauntlet of street performers and leafletters and the rest of it to get down onto Princes St for the bus. And that was in the 90s, it's much bigger now.

It’s not just Glasgow either. My daughter and her fiancé are in Perth in a flat with a dead-end road, and came out Thursday to find their one exit was closed off with cones for the UCI…no warning whatsoever. So they just took the cones off the road. No other way to get out. I also have friends in rural Perthshire who pretty much can’t go anywhere because many roads are closed for the Cycling Wankers. The general consensus is that unless you’re a cycling wanker it’s a giant PITA. You have to wonder what would happen in an emergency…

My eldest Dd works in rural Stirling and its taking her an extra 25 minutes to get to work it's just ridiculous.

I need to go from DumGal up to QE hospital on Thursday, shit. Better go check my route!

My local Perthshire town was basically shut yesterday.. no benefit to the local economy as race was just passing through. Perth itself was a nightmare as the Perth show was on too!

isn't someone always going to "lose out" for any event that might happen, I don't think "no one losing out" is a viable target.

I wonder how many animals have died in recent years due to ordinary levels of traffic preventing vets from getting somewhere in time. Not to mention all the roadkill incidents. Our local facebook seems to have at least one notice a week about pet animals run over by cars.

I am surprised about no warning about the cycle race routes that PP mention; my experience being volunteer at running races is that everyone along the route gets a lot of warning that the event is coming & roads will be closed.

@Floogal we live in the same area, already dreading the ridiculous traffic for this year's "event".

We also have had a cycling event in the nearby national park which is awful no one can really enjoy the park when it's on as the MAMILS take over racing (although they claim its a timed event not a race) they threw rubbish everywhere, I witnessed them screaming at the ponies who have right of way over everyone to get out the way as they flew down the lanes and the abuse they gave drivers who were trying to just use the narrow roads.