On Monday 19th of June I met with stakeholders to discuss various matters relating to the former Promat site. They were City Council, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

I stressed that I have been raising issues with this site as long ago as 2019 and had previously described the site as an accident waiting to happen. Recently there were two fires at the site, one on 1 May 2023 and the second (the major fire) on 31 May 2023

There have been ongoing police investigations into trespassing and illegal use of the site, which has led to a joint investigation with SEPA and they cannot comment further on ongoing investigations. It appears there has been illegal dumping of household and commercial waste, perhaps on an industrial scale. There continues to be waste on site, some of which is impacted by the fire, although it is  not possible to confirm the exact quantity remaining at this time.  It is unclear what materials are within the waste but they are not thought to be hazardous. There are also issues relating to asbestos on the site. These issues relate to the building infrastructure and not the waste material deposited.

Scottish Fire Service have made it clear that the hazards and dangers on site are vast to members of the public.

All agencies agree that it is virtually impossible to fully prevent access to the buildings, given their size. I am concerned this makes it hard to ensure the complex is completely safe. However, there could be options to strengthen the perimeter to prevent access to the site and I would be keen to explore this in terms of who would be responsible and how this would be paid for.

There is ongoing communication between SEPA and Glasgow City Council and the site owners on various matters including what more can be done to make the perimeter safer, as well as to have the illegal dumping materials removed and ultimately for the site to be cleared longer term. It remains unclear what enforcement powers exist and these matter are currently being explored.

I will meet again with all stakeholders in a few weeks. In the meantime both Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are monitoring the site closely. There now needs to be a further detailed review into how the perimeter can be better secured and appropriate actions taken as speedily as possible and Glasgow City Council need to explore in some details all powers they have to ensure the owner meets their responsibilities with an ultimate goal of having the site demolished.