Wednesday July 15th 2026
Glasgow City Chambers
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Sarah Hilley
Advertising trailers and billboards in Glasgow face stronger crackdowns as a councillor said an east end neighbourhood has been hit with structures in dangerous locations.
Councillor Allan Casey said Dennistoun has been the location for a number of unusual advertising installations including a gorilla in a shower, an exploding duck and an inflatable of Halloween character Michael Myers clutching a knife.
He called for trailers causing problems to be swiftly removed as he backed a motion from councillor Ken Andrew for roads to be cleared of unsightly street clutter.
Business Big Duck Bathrooms has installed a number of controversial inflatables in Dennistoun and the Michael Myers one led to criticism from Greens councillor Anthony Carroll previously.
SNP Councillor Casey said: “I don’t want to pick on a small independent business but the issues in Dennistoun are disproportionately caused by one individual business. Sometimes if you are passing it can be funny – it draws your attention and does exactly what it says.
“But if you are living facing those deteriorating structures every single day for five years it becomes a blight on the well being of the community. And many residents who have lived locally come to us as elected members and rightly so ask us to do something about it.”
He added: “Some of them are in dangerous locations and come of the advertising is questionable.
“It is a ridiculous situation that structures are placed on council land and we have to essentially ask for permission for them to be removed.”
He said the council needs to “move structures quickly and not ask for permission from owners to do so”.
Fellow SNP councillor Andrew brought a motion to the most recent full council meeting with a number of amendments from Labour, Scottish Greens and Your Party added.
Councillor Andrew said his motion supports a “coordinated and strategic approach to reduce street clutter” and improve the “quality, safety and accessibility of Glasgow’s public spaces”.
Although highlighting the benefits of Avenues programme, he added: “But if we are serious about creating spaces that are attractive, inclusive and safe then we must address the growing clutter, which increasingly dominates too many of our pavements and road sides”.
He added: “Outdoor advertising infrastructure, redundant phone boxes, mobile billboard trailers and poorly maintained kiosks all have a cumulative impact on the experience of our city. They obstruct movement, reduce accessibility, create visual noise and in some cases pose genuine road safety concerns.”
The motion expressed “concern about the prevalence of advertising for products which are harmful to public health”.
It said “advertising structures including trailers, where lacking appropriate consent or causing obstruction, should be subject to enforcement action with a view to their prompt removal and the strengthening of policy and enforcement mechanisms to prevent recurrence.”
Among a range of measures it calls for “removal of obsolete or vandalised units” and engagement with owners to set out standards for maintenance and graffiti removal and that structures should be repaired or upgraded only when there is public benefit and no adverse impact on road safety, accessibility or local amenity.
Councillor Andrew accepted and amendment from Labour councillor Stephen Curran and a joint amendment from Greens Councillor Lana Reid-McConnell and Bailie Seonad Hoy, Your Party, for an agreed adjusted motion.
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