THE green light has been given for a £2.4m overhaul of Port Glasgow town centre after regeneration bosses secured an £850,000 grant from the Scottish Government.
The government will add a total of £852,000 to the £1.1m being put up by Riverside Inverclyde (RI), and the contribution of development partners Inverclyde Council, who are investing half a million pounds.
The money will deliver the second stage of a Port town centre revamp and covers what is termed 'the lower town quarter'.
Among the initiatives will be restructuring the town centre layout with two new civic squares.
The central element to the project is the first phase of work creating a gateway spur from the A8 trunk road. There will be a new exit off the roundabout to allow traffic to enter and exist directly from the trunk road into the town centre.
RI chairman Gerry McCarthy said: “Riverside Inverclyde is delighted to have secured this funding from the Scottish Government which allows us to put in place one of the top priorities identified in the Port Glasgow town centre charrette. The timing of the announcement is appropriate as it should act as encouragement for the Greenock town centre charrette process that is currently underway. It is anticipated that the Port Glasgow works could start prior to the end of this year."
Inverclyde Council’s environment and regeneration convener and chair of the Port Glasgow Town Centre Regeneration Forum, Councillor Michael McCormick, added: “The sum of all of the infrastructure work will be to transform the gateway to Port Glasgow and create, effectively, a new identifiable lower town quarter.
"This project is one of the first tangible results of the innovative town centre charrette process which took place in Port Glasgow and is now starting in Greenock. In developing the town centre master plan, it is crucial that community, business and others with an interest are involved in developing ideas.”
It is expected that 25 construction jobs, around six training places and two new posts will be created as a result of the work.
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