Talks over £8m housing cash bid

Eric Baxter • Published 19 Mar 2010 14:00

HOUSING Minister Alex Neil is to visit Inverclyde following talks in Edinburgh yesterday over two crucial housing issues.

A delegation of Inverclyde councillors and officials met him to try to rescue £1 million of un-spent River Clyde Homes' improvement cash and also ask him to contribute towards the £8m needed to start regenerating Port Glasgow's rundown Clune Park area.

The visit comes as the Tele puts pressure on the Scottish Government to help regenerate and reinvigorate areas of Inverclyde with the launch of our Making Your Lives Better campaign.

No decisions were made yesterday, but council leader Stephen McCabe said the discussions were 'constructive'.

He said: "Council and Scottish Government officials will work together to produce joint reports for our consideration."

Mr Neil will visit Inverclyde in six weeks time to see around the Clune Park area.

Councillors Ciano Rebecchi and Jim MacLeod were also on the delegation. Councillor Rebecchi said: "We all felt good about the meeting. The minister said he wasn't ruling anything in or out."

Councillor MacLeod said: "It was a positive meeting. The minister's civil servants will meet with council officials to look at some of the things we were speaking about."

The Scottish Government vowed to explore the regeneration of the area.

A spokesperson said: "We are committed to creating better spaces, housing and local amenities for the people of Scotland.

"The Scottish Government has committed over £25 million to Riverside Inverclyde to help it take forward its ambitious regeneration plans.

"We will be undertaking further work to look at all options for the regeneration of the Clune Park area."

Tweet

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 19 Mar 10

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.

Follow @greenocktele