Plans for a £9.4m marine training and manufacturing facility at Inchgreen have cleared the first hurdle

As revealed by the Tele a fortnight ago, Inverclyde Council and site owners Peel Ports want to use cash from the Glasgow region City Deal cash to breathe new life into the area, including the former McKechnie Jess meat factory site and the neighbouring Riskend Quarry, just next to James Watt Dock Marina.

The idea is to acquire both sites and, along with a section of the Inchgreen Dry Dock land, create a training centre for the fishing industry, a facility to build fishing vessels, a fish processing plant and a marine manufacturing operation.

The proposals have now been approved by the City Deal cabinet and the council has been given a £150,000 advance to start the design process.

Councillor Jim Clocherty, the local authority's depute leader, said: "Inchgreen is a vital strategic asset.

"By working in partnership with the site's owners, Peel Ports, Inverclyde Council can help bring in the necessary public-private investment to transform a derelict, under-used site into a sought-after, state-of-the-art, deep water industrial facility. "The lasting dividend for Greenock and Port Glasgow will be permanent jobs across a wide range of trades."

Original plans for a renewable energy hub at Inchgreen were blown off course last year due to a downturn in the market.

Officials have now passed the first stage with their alternative idea.

Mark Whitworth, chief executive of Peel Ports, said: "Everyone involved in this project wants to see Inchgreen resume its role as a thriving industrial and maritime site which supports hundreds of skilled, permanent jobs.

"This is a huge step forward in realising that dream, but we must ensure we maintain and build upon this momentum in the months ahead and we look forward to playing a leading role in what is an exciting and vital development."

While the proposals do not take in the dry dock itself, it is hoped they will spark further investment at a later date.

A total of £3.5m has been set aside to buy the McKechnie Jess and Riskend Quarry sites.

Ward councillor, Jim MacLeod, said: "The idea to bring forward a business case to create a deep water industrial hub which will hopefully generate hundreds of permanent and varied jobs will give Inverclyde and our economy a huge boost."

Council colleague Chris Curley, who represents neighbouring ward one, hopes the proposal is just the start of regenerating the area.

Mr Curley said: "As Inchgreen is centrally situated along the busy A8 corridor, improved road links will maximise industrial use of the site, and by improving transport opportunities along the A8 corridor, drive further economic investment by unlocking the potential of further, nearby development sites."