MY hope for better weather during the ‘Glasgow Fair’ proved somewhat optimistic.

Maybe it’s just my age but I seem to think summers were much better when I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s?
Like many local families, we headed ‘doon the watter’ most years to Rothesay on the beautiful Isle of Bute for the fair fortnight.

It is a place that still holds happy and magical memories for me.

Last week I decided to take a trip down memory lane by taking my son Dylan to Rothesay for the day. Like all resort towns on the Clyde Coast it has seen better days.

The number of visitors are far fewer than when it was at the height of its popularity.

There are lots of empty shops and local amenities are not what they used to be. The invention of the package holiday and the lower cost of air travel saw to that.

We still had a great day mind you, despite the odd shower! As Rothesay tries to re-invent itself as a town for the 21st century our own towns of Greenock, Gourock and Port Glasgow face the same challenge.

All three town centres have suffered due to our falling population and changed shopping habits, with the rise of the supermarket and out of town shopping centres and the growth of online shopping.

In response to this we have established our three regeneration forums and are investing heavily in each of the town centres to breathe new life into them.

The major public investment in the Gourock in recent years is starting to pay dividends with private investment now following on as entrepreneurs and business people recognise that Gourock is on the way up and is a place that they can make money in.

Port Glasgow has also come a long way in the last few years.

The completion of the retail park, the redevelopment of the shipyard, the new housing at Bay Street, the expansion of the Lidl store and the new Burger King restaurant are all positive signs of renewal.

We still have some way to go in Port Glasgow mind you to make sure the traditional town centre benefits from this investment and finds its role in the 21st century.

The project that started last month to create a new spur road off the A8 to Shore Street and Princes Street and a new civic square in front of the town hall is part of our plan to improve connections into the town centre in the hope that this will boost existing businesses and attract fresh investment into the area.

Our biggest town centre, Greenock, arguably faces the biggest challenge to re-invent itself.

The Greenock town centre regeneration forum, which is chaired by my colleague Jim Clocherty is working hard to develop plans that will address this challenge.

The council is backing the forum with significant funding of over £2m.

Projects under consideration include public realm improvements on West Blackhall Street and creating a thoroughfare through the Oak Mall to Cathcart Street; a new restaurant quarter to stimulate the night time economy; and the introduction of a town centre wi-fi scheme.

The forum also recognises the need to address the large number of empty shop units in the town centre and look at potential alternative uses.

Empty shop units are of course not unique to Greenock or Inverclyde for that matter. I’m sure we can draw on lessons from elsewhere in tackling this issue.

I have asked officers to arrange a presentation by Scotland’s Towns Partnership to elected members and the regeneration forums to provide us with an overview of national policy and examples of what is working in other towns across Scotland.

We have a big challenge to make our town centres sustainable.

I’m confident however we are moving in the right direction with a real commitment from the council and the wider community to find solutions that will work for Inverclyde.