Report to the People
29th December 2003
Do we Dare to Dream?
The
festive season is a time of hope. Well,
it certainly is for me: I hope
I’ll be able to get into my suit next Monday.
Such
pressing matters aside, however, I have been giving some thought, as 2003 draws
to a close, to my hopes for 2004.
For
all that I condemn the doom-mongers who constantly seek to run Inverclyde down,
when you consider some of the setbacks our community has sustained over the
years, I suppose we can be forgiven for being somewhat cautious about our hopes
for the next 12 months.
This
year, though, we may have reason to be more optimistic.
We
are, of course, still too reliant on a small number of large employers in
electronics manufacturing – an industry in which there are always problems at
the start and end of the calendar year, as the job losses at Sanmina just before
Christmas showed. The need to
diversify – to broaden and strengthen our economic base – remains.
But
a number of pieces of the economic regeneration jigsaw are now finally coming
together.
It’s
long been said that the Clyde is as much a part of our future as our past.
It is a wonderful natural asset which gives Inverclyde a backdrop
visitors describe as “breathtaking.” Since
we stopped using the waterfront for shipbuilding, however, we have not made best
use of it and parts have decayed into an eyesore.
No
more.
Just
as was done in East London and Leith, plans are afoot to transform the area.
Property developer, Peel Holdings, now owns much of the land and they
have some impressive ideas. I am
very excited by the opportunities which could be on offer if prime waterfront
land was opened up for commercial, housing and leisure developments.
Attractive, riverside housing and the availability of jobs could make
Inverclyde the first choice for families and would help address our depopulation
problems. Think of how the view
from the A8 corridor as you travel into Greenock from the east would change. And think about how that would affect visitors’ first
impressions of us.
Also,
thanks to some high-pressure lobbying of Network Rail and an additional £500,000
from the Scottish Executive, the central Gourock re-development – which will
see the station refurbished and the creation of a transport interchange – now
finally looks set to begin next year.
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