Clune Park: Resident vows never to leave derelict Port Glasgow estate

Marshal Craig, 70, insists that Clune Park — which Inverclyde Council wants to demolish — is a 'quiet' place and that he won't leave under any circumstances.

The retired forestry worker has stayed at the run-down estate, which has become a hotspot for deliberate fire settings and anti-social behaviour, for around 20 years.

Despite much of the estate being covered in graffiti, litter and the frequent fire raisings,

Mr Craig says that he prefers it to anywhere he has stayed previously.

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While he admits that the crumbling facades and smashed windows of nearby buildings look ‘shabby’, Mr Craig also believes that the problem could be fixed with a 'lick of paint'.

The troubled estate is now mostly empty, and the council has been attempting for more than a decade to bulldoze it and clear it for a multi-million regeneration plan.

But the local authority, which owns around half of the properties, has been thwarted by a series of high profile court case losses against Clune Park landlords.

Mr Craig, who has stayed in three different flats at the scheme, says it is a 'tranquil place in its own way’ and he is not put off by the plans to knock it down. 

He said: “I’m quite happy here, apart from the fires.

“I was actually involved in one, it was a Sunday morning about five or six years ago and I started to smell smoke.

“It was a flat downstairs that the fire happened in, and it was just as I was having my coffee and toast.

“I had to go to hospital with smoke inhalation.

“But as I say I’m still quite happy here, it’s reasonably quiet because of the lack of people.

“You get that used to smelling smoke around here, once every few weeks you’ll get a blaze in an empty flat or something like that.

“I always say I would chain myself to a radiator before I’d leave.”

Council leader Stephen McCabe revealed to the Telegraph earlier this year that the local authority was prepared to go down the potentially lengthy route of a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to acquire the remaining dwellings it needs.

But Mr Craig believes the flats are well-made and could be redeveloped without knocking them down.

He said: “I don’t think the council is doing what they should be doing, which is tarting the place up.

“The integrity of the buildings here, as far as I know, is good. The walls are two feet thick. This place could be done up.

“I know with the broken glass and all that it can look bad but it’s an iconic place really.

“A lot of people seem to get the wrong impression.

“I’m not a bad person, my neighbours are great, I’ve got a brilliant view over the Clyde from two storeys up and it’s quiet. What more could you want? I don’t want to move.”

Mr Craig, of Robert Street, added: “When I first moved in there were more people and consequently it was a bit more lively.

“They’ve all moved out now and it’s quieter these days.

“I prefer it now because of that, it’s a nice house I have here.

“You wouldn’t put a dog in the old places further down the street, but this block is good.

“When you heard the fire and smelled the smoke you used to run to the window at one point but now I just don’t bother.

“I understand why people say what they say about it, it does look shabby, but it’s nothing a lick of paint wouldn’t fix.

“I prefer it here to anywhere else I’ve stayed. I love Port Glasgow, everyone knows me.

“I wouldn’t leave unless they dragged me out or I came out in a box.”

A spokesperson for Inverclyde Council said: “It remains our ambition to acquire properties at Clune Park to allow for the delivery of long term regeneration of the area.

“While progress has been frustratingly slow and costly, the ambition still remains and discussions are continuing to achieve this aim at the earliest possible opportunity.”