£20m Irvine funding programme is saved

-Credit: (Image: Irvine Herald)
-Credit: (Image: Irvine Herald)


Fears that the plug was going to be pulled on a multi-million programme to resurrect 55 UK towns including Irvine would be pulled by the new UK Labour Government have been allayed.

Back in January, the UK Government announced that £20m a head would be awarded to the towns through the Long Term Plan For Towns programme.

However, in August Councillor Geraint Thomas, independent leader of Merthyr Tydfil council, told Nation Cymru that over the past 12 months they had consulted with residents on their priorities that they’d like the council to take forward for the regeneration of the town.

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But he said that “out of the blue we had the rug pulled from beneath us” when they found out through a news report that the UK Government were suspending the project.

And a North Ayrshire Council source confirmed recently they had also heard rumours that the project may be canned.

The plans involve providing long-term investment to be spent on local people’s priorities such as regenerating local high streets and town centres or securing public safety and transport connectivity.

However, fears that the new Labour Government would not honour it were allayed when the multi-million funding support for improving Irvine was given the go-ahead in the Autumn Budget.

Central Ayrshire MP, Alan Gemmell, confirmed that the £2 million per annum for the next 10 years in Irvine would remain in place to allow fresh developments to happen.

This was formally confirmed even more recently when the newly created Irvine Town Board was given fresh information on how it could qualify for this additional new funding to enhance fresh developments within the Irvine Town Centre.

Bill Nolan, Board chair congratulated the local community for its positive response to the campaign to make their views known to the new board that was only set up in September.

He said: “The positive and often highly imaginative responses by Irvine people to a major consultation programme has been excellent and has shown that a sense of pride in what was once a Royal Burgh still exists. Irvine’s willingness to be involved as a community at different levels was another major factor in the town being given the go-ahead for this level of public funding, investment and support which could be in place annually for the next 10 years”.

Bill was also quick to thank recently elected MP Alan Gemmell for his involvement and support in getting Irvine the added funding that it requires to turn the town around.

He added: “We are here to complement the work of North Ayrshire Council by using this new funding support as a catalyst for innovation and change and that would not have been possible without Alan’s active support within Government circles.”

For the past two months the Town Board have been actively conducting a major consultation programme inviting local people to voice what they would like to see happening in their town.

This has involved meeting various groups from all age bands, from senior citizens to secondary school pupils and young adults. These views and opinions from within the local community have created a wide range of options with a strong emphasis within the Town Board on listening to what changes Irvine residents would like to see happening.

"Listening to the views and ideas of local people is what will drive this opportunity for improvement," explained Chris Pless, vice-chair of the Town Board and chair of the local Community Council.

"This open consultation will be quite obvious over the next two Saturdays (November 9 and 16) within - and courtesy of - the Rivergate Shopping Centre where we will be actively promoting how we can take this forward.

The next step for the Irvine Town Board will be to consider and analyse the different schemes being suggested by local people and organisations and to assess how feasible and viable these would be when prioritised into various topics and opportunities including High Street Improvements, Safety & Security, Transport. and Culture & Heritage.

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