IMPRESSIVE plans have been lodged to build 43 new houses in Port Glasgow town centre.

Social landlord River Clyde Homes (RCH) is seeking permission from Inverclyde Council for a major development on Bay Street.

The housing association wants to build 19 houses and 24 apartments on former industrial land between Gourock Ropeworks and the three high rise blocks it owns.

Artist’s impressions from designers JM Architect, above, show how the properties could look once finished.

The project is a joint venture with bespoke property developers Cullross.

The proposals are for a mixture of one and two-bed apartments, two and three bed houses, a bungalow and 43 parking spaces.

A design statement about the project says: “The proposal aims to provide 43 high quality homes for Cullross/River Clyde Homes, comprising of 24 apartments and 19 houses, all with associated parking, cycle storage, refuse pavilion, public and private amenity space.

“The position of the site on the edge of the busy A8 road with surrounding neighbouring tower blocks and the iconic old mill building has been a key driver informing our proposal; namely to address this current negative space by re-establishing the urban edge to Bay Street as positive built space.” The plans are now being considered by council officials and the applicants are keen for the development to get the green light.

The design statement says: “At present, the condition of the site gives a very negative impression next to a highly prominent, historically significant building.

“The proposed development at Bay Street provides a really positive opportunity to re-establish the street edge and re-link the old mill building apartments with Port Glasgow whilst creating a sustainable, mixed, community of affordable homes with a choice of housing tenures and types.

“The current journey along this section of the A8 corridor is broken and fragmented and would benefit from the regeneration of the site, providing an urban edge to enhance the overall amenity of Bay Street and should be regarded as a particularly positive initiative in the area.” The development, if given the go-ahead, would sit alongside the eight-storey Ropeworks building, which was formerly Richardson’s sugar refinery in the 1860s before being converted for use as a ropeworks some 20 years later.

In 2006, the category A-listed mill building was converted to luxury loft apartments after years lying derelict.

The proposed site was once a 400-yard long ‘rope walk’, which ran alongside the railway line and was used for spinning ropes by means of a very intricate system of tracks and machinery. That was demolished in the 1980s but the foundations still remain.