Better Barrhead News
Thanx for Cross Arthurlie comments - February 2010
More than 70 local residents and business people attended the all day session to develop ideas on the kind of street furniture that will adorn Cross Arthurlie Street.
The Barrhead street is being redeveloped by the council’s roads and regenerations service to the tune of £800,000 worth of improvements to the roads and pavements.
A specially arranged drop in session was held at Voluntary Action’s undercover office last Thursday.
And residents and businesses were asked to pick out their preferred options for street furnitre which includes bins, bollards, lighting and trees.
Regeneration convener at the council, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “This was an opportunity to come along and have your say and I’m delighted residents and business took the time to come along and make a contribution to the work we’re doing to improve Cross Arthurlie Street in Barrhead.”
The council’s regeneration service will analyse the responses and post them on this website by the end of February.
Business backing for improvements - February 2010
With £800,000 worth of investment work already started, regeneration work at Cross Arthurlie Street is being backed by local businesses.
Bluestone Design is among the many businesses backing the regeneration of Cross Arthurlie Street.
Owner Jeanette Park-Patterson said: "We have known about the regeneration plans for a number of years now and have been involved in a lot of meetings at various stages.
“A lot of effort and time has gone into securing funding to improve Cross Arthurlie Street and we were all very concerned that it wouldn't become a neglected area as improvements and changes would be made in Main Street.
“Those who have attended meetings were aware that, at some point, disruption would be occurring in Cross Arthurlie Street as upgrading would be carried out.
“We know that in the short term some businesses may suffer but in the long term we know this will be of benefit to the whole area. When work is completed it will be a much easier place to park and shop in and will be a much more pleasant environment for retailers and the general public.
“Cross Arthurlie Street has always had a good mix of different types of retail businesses, mostly independents, and improving the area can only be of benefit to everyone."
And residents and business are being invited to have their say on the final part of the regeneration work.
For a specially arranged exhibition gives residents a chance to have your say on the new street furniture, lighting, trees and how the street will look after the work is completed.
Regeneration convener, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “Thanks to our successful bid to the Scottish government we’re spending £800,000 making improvements to Cross Arthurlie Street. Our aim is to make it a better place for shoppers and visitors and that will have knock on benefits for local businesses.
“This exhibition is an opportunity for our residents, visitors or anyone with an interest in Cross Arthurlie Street to come along and have your say on the kind of street furniture that could make a real improvement to the street.”
Work has already started and is expected to be complete by May when the new street furniture, lighting and trees will be in place.
The Cross Arthurlie Street work is funded by the Scottish Government Town Centre Regeneration Fund.
The public exhibition is on Thursday 11 February 2010 from noon to 7pm at the downstairs café area of Voluntary Action Undercover, Kelburn Street Barrhead. "
Cross Arthurlie Will Be Open For Business
Cross Arthurlie Street in Barrhead will be open for business. That’s the message from council roads and regeneration bosses after they met with local businesses to discuss the £800,000 plans for upgrading and regenerating the shopping area.
And though the work upgrading the road will mean some disruption, the council wants shoppers and visitors to the town to know that the Cross Arthurlie’s open for business.
Economic development convener at the Council, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “No one, not even our roads engineers, likes road closures. But there are few among us that wouldn’t recognise two things: that Cross Arthurlie Street needs work done and that it’ll look a whole lot better after the work is done. But while the work is getting done we’re clear that Cross Arthurlie Street is open for business and our roads and regeneration services will do all that they can to keep disruption to a minimum.
“I’d like to thank local business for their commitment to working with us to get this work done that I hope we can all agree will improve Cross Arthurlie Street long term and make it the excellent shopping destination we know it can become.”
The road works at Cross Arthurlie Street are likely to begin in early January 2010 and continue until May 2010.
The work includes: rebuilding and resurfacing the road, new pavements and kerbs including pavement widening in some places. On-street car parking bays will also be created. The street will be finished in high quality granite, with new landscaping and street furniture.
New Offices Developed in Town - January 2010
New suites of offices are set to be developed in Barrhead.
And, when completed early next year, new businesses could be up and running in a week because of the facilities available.
The development by Moorgarth Properties is being supported by a regeneration grant of £66,000 towards refurbishment and accessibility.
The 4000 sq ft of offices in what is now to be called the Westbourne Business Centre in Barrhead will provide between 10 and 15 office suites ranging from 150 sq ft up to the entire area if required and available on flexible leases from one month upwards.
With new lift access, carpets, ceilings, lighting and redecorated throughout, these offices will offer excellent facilities for the local and regional business community whether established businesses or new start ups.
Work on the offices has already started and should be available for occupation by the end of February 2010. Once the works are complete interested businesses could be up and running within a week, as the offices will be fully set up with internet and telephone connections.
Council economic development convener Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “This is a welcome development in the town and we are delighted to contribute towards this work that will provide a new type of business accommodation in this location. With this and the £800,000 work at Cross Arthurlie we are seeing some significant investment in the town.”
Tim Vaughan, Managing Director at Moorgarth, commented "we have been working for some time on options to improve the office provision in Barrhead and utilising the facilities that already exist. Scottish Government's Town Centre Regeneration Fund has enabled us to comprehensively refurbish these offices to offer cost effective and high quality office accommodation not currently available in the immediate area.
“Our agents have already received a number of enquiries for the offices and we hope the combined capital investment by ourselves and the Scottish Government will assist in promoting Barrhead as a viable centre for business. Our agent Graham Waddell of Johnstone Wardell Ltd on Tel: 0141 221 4545 would be delighted to speak to you about any enquiry.”
THE SLAB BOYS – November 2009
It was full steam ahead last week when economic development convener Councillor Tony Buchanan lent a hand when he visited Barrhead to see the progress on a clean up project in the town’s Main Street.
The first phase of work on the Town Centre Regeneration Fund (TCRF) projects is now underway with trainees from the council’s training centre in Rouken Glen carrying out improvements in front of the Main Street shopping centre and shops.
Up to 10 local people are currently employed doing this work, and for the trainees it's a continuation of the successful neighbourhood environmental improvements that were undertaken at Craigheads.
The trainee's are all working towards gaining an SVQ Level 2 Construction and they will shortly being moving on to Glasgow Road to carry out planting.
The current work consists of relaying broken and collapsed slabs, and jet-washing in preparation for a bigger road and footway improvement funded by the TCRF that will take place in the New Year.
Plans are also being worked up for a replacement canopy in front of the council owned shops together with a better more modern lighting scheme.
The sum of £1.4m of the Town Centre Regeneration Fund has been awarded to Better Barrhead regeneration projects to fund a range of environmental, landscaping and building improvement works in the town centre.
The work is part of the £100m masterplan to regenerate Barrhead and the projects appear in the Town Centre Urban Design Framework which local people and groups contributed to last year. More info at www.betterbarrhead.co.uk
College Business Case – October 2009
The business case for East Renfrewshire College has been given the green light after councillors voted 12 to eight in its favour at last week’s full council meeting.
They’ve given the directors of environment and finance the go-ahead to take forward the design of the building and asked them to work on detailed operational and financial plans. Councillors also approved £7.8m of capital funding, in principle, and subject to approval of the council’s capital fund for 2010/11 onwards in February 2010.
Now the council, working with Reid Kerr, Cardonald, Langside and James Watt Colleges, plans to take the project forward. The college centre includes a replacement library for Barrhead, a conference centre and a business and employment zone, and is the first further education centre of its kind in Scotland.
If capital funding is agreed in February 2010 the anticipated opening date is September 2010.
East Renfrewshire Council leader councillor Jim Fletcher said: “The college is an integral part of the Better Barrhead regeneration drive and will serve all the people of East Renfrewshire. Experienced consultants have ascertained demand for the facility as have our own education department and the principals of the colleges, who are committed to the project. The Scottish Funding Council has also committed £3m towards what is an innovative approach to the provision of further education. The whole council had a full, informed and frank debate on the business case and we now move on to the next stage in developing the college. ”
New dawn in local healthcare in CMO’s home town – September 2009
Born and bred in Barrhead, Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Harry Burns, took special pleasure in marking a major milestone in the development of the new Barrhead Health and Social Care Centre.
Scotland’s most senior doctor was on hand today as construction work on the £18million centre began. He said: “It is always good news when a new healthcare facility is being built but I am particularly delighted by this project having been born and brought up in Barrhead,. I am extremely pleased that my fellow residents will benefit from this state-of-the-art new facility.”
The joint development between NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and East Renfrewshire Council will bring local health and social work services together under the one roof for the first time.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Chairman, Andrew Robertson, was on site this morning to kick off construction work with Councillor Douglas Yates, Chair of East Renfrewshire Community Health and Care Partnership and Councillor Tony Buchanan, East Renfrewshire Council convener for economic development and regeneration.
Mr Robertson said: “The new centre will make it easier and quicker for local people to access the services they require regardless of whether these are provided by NHS or council staff. This state-of-the-art development will undoubtedly be of huge benefit to the people of Barrhead and I am delighted to be here today to witness building work begin.”
The total cost of the facility is £18million - £15m from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and £3m from East Renfrewshire Council and it is anticipated that it will open in February 2011.
The new Centre will provide a wide range of local health and social care services. These include GP practices, General Dental Practices, minor surgery, physiotherapy, podiatry (foot care) services, health visitor and district nursing teams, social work and home care services. It will also provide accommodation for older person’s day care.
Councillor Douglas Yates, Chair of East Renfrewshire CHCP said: “I’m delighted to help get this flagship project off to a good start. The new heath centre an example of public service excellence with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and East Renfrewshire working together for the benefit of the people of Barrhead to ensure that good health is accessible and available to all. I look forward very much to the opening in due course as the centre has a vital role to play in promoting healthy living, fighting health inequalities and helping build a strong community.”
The new Barrhead Health and Care Centre is being built on a site 150 metres from the current facility on the site of the former Carlibar Primary School.
The facility is a key element of the Barrhead Regeneration Framework which is being led by East Renfrewshire Council and other partner agencies. The Framework provides a vision for Barrhead which seeks to establish the town’s role in the commercial and civic life of East Renfrewshire. The Framework seeks to improve employment opportunities and shopping/commercial activity within the town. In addition, the aim is to improve health, leisure and recreation facilities in Barrhead.
Councillor Tony Buchanan, East Renfrewshire Council convener for economic development and regeneration said: “This is proof positive that our Better Barrhead drive to regenerate the town is fast becoming a bricks-and-mortar reality as the health centre is the first building to be built as part of the project. By investing in health we invest in the future of our residents who are the heart of all that we’re doing in Barrhead and seeing work start onsite will be seen as proof positive that we really mean business as we put the regeneration jig saw into place.”
Regeneration Fund Success - August 2009
Barrhead Town Centre has been given a boost with the news that the Scottish Government have awarded East Renfrewshire £1.4 million to spend on a range of regeneration projects in the town. The money, which is part of the £30 million Town Centre Regeneration Fund set up by the Scottish Government will be used to upgrade roadways and pedestrian areas along Main Street and Cross Arthurlie Street. Other projects include the acquisition of the Gym building on Cross Arthurlie Street (with a view to demolishing the building and re-developing the vacant site) and the creation of modern office units in the Westbourne Centre.
The work will help upgrade the environment in Barrhead while helping local businesses develop and flourish.
The projects will be carried out over the next few months with final completion in May next year.
Town Centre Regeneration Fund Bid - June 2009
To help alleviate the worst impacts of the economic downturn, the Scottish Government announced the launching of a one off £60 million Town Centre Regeneration Fund (TCRF). The regeneration team, in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, Community Planning Partnership and Council departments submitted an application to the fund and an announcement on whether or not we have been successful will be available in late July.
The bid included proposals for Public Space works to Cross Arthurlie Street and Main Street and, if successful, will allow us to realise some of our ambitions for those areas.
The deadline between the announcement of the bid and the deadline for awards was very tight and this is why the Public Spaces group was not involved in the development of the application. However, we do envision a role for interested parties to be involved in project implementation if we are successful.
As stated previously, we do hope to be back in touch shortly with some more progress updates and the announcement of some real opportunities to getting back involved. In the meantime, please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions, my contact details are:
Telephone: 0141 577 3499
Email: gavin.russell@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
Barrhead Urban Design Framework Approved June 2009
The Urban Design Framework (UDF) contains the design principles which will be used to inform the Public Spaces projects. The document was developed by the community members involved with Gillespie's Design Consultancy and the regeneration team and is the centrepiece of the Public Spaces process.
The UDF was approved by cabinet on the 28th of May. This means that the Council fully endorses the ideas and thoughts put into the document by the community and demonstrates the ongoing commitment to community focused regeneration projects.