Funding snub is not Buddie good enough!

Nov 14 2009 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

FURY erupted last night after the Scottish Government handed out a whopping £20million to more than 40 towns and villages across the country – but decided Renfrewshire should not receive a single penny.

The bumper cash awards were dished out in the latest round of grants from the Town Centre Regeneration Fund.

Renfrewshire Council bosses had applied for more than £1.2million to pay for environmental and transport improvements in Paisley, as well as the restoration of the abandoned Littlewoods store in the town’s High Street.

It was also hoped cash would be paid out for the ongoing revamp of Renfrew Town Hall – but these applications have been snubbed. Instead, the likes of nearby Clydebank has been handed £1.8million. A similar sum has gone to Brechin, while Stornoway has banked £1.5million.

Tom Johnston, president of Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce, described the snub for Renfrewshire as “disappointing”.

He said: “We lobbied hard. Paisley is one of Scotland’s biggest towns and needs as much money as we can get to help us regenerate it.”

In August, Paisley town centre was given £1.8 million in the first round of grants from the Town Centre Regeneration Fund, while £775,000 was awarded to improve Johnstone, Renfrew, Erskine, Lochwinnoch and Bridge of Weir.

A total of £2.6million was handed over to Renfrewshire Council – half of what they had asked for – with a large chunk to be spent on restoring the run-down Arnotts building in Paisley town centre.

Paisley North MSP Wendy Alexander has branded the failure to award the town any cash in this latest round of grants as “a disgrace”.

She added: “Paisley has got none of the additional money at a time when Burger King, Millets, the Co-op in the West End and other retailers have announced departures. It was bad enough in the summer for Paisley to come ninth in the league of support after Alloa, Dumfries and suburbs of Edinburgh but it is a disgrace to have been cut out entirely from roundtwo.

“I and my parliamentary colleagues will be meeting to discuss the matter further. A total of 41 High Streets in Scotland will benefit but not Paisley.

“This means no Scottish Government money for much-needed projects like the conversion of the Littlewoods store, shopfront improvements to vacant units, road improvements and plans to build an events shelter at County Square.”

Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP Douglas Alexander added: “Do the SNP really believe there are 41 towns more deserving of this cash than Paisley?

“It’s time for the SNP government to stop ripping off Paisley. This decision is a kick in the teeth for Paisley when we need cash to help bring people, shops and events to our town centre.”

However, Renfrewshire Council Leader Derek Mackay remained upbeat yesterday, despite the funding snub.

He said: “Renfrewshire secured the fourth highest grant awarded to any council in Scotland in the first round of funding, so it’s perhaps not surprising that there was no further funding given in the second phase of grants.

“Other areas of Scotland who were unsuccessful last time would say that it was their turn for a share of the regeneration funds.

“While it was worth a second bite at the cherry in applying for further funds, we were delighted with our award earlier this year and are getting on with the job of spending it.”

As well as the regeneration of the empty Arnotts buildings in Paisley, the funding approved in August will be spent on creating more than 30 new parking spaces in Renfrew, improving the state of Collier Street in Johnstone town centre and investment in the historic bandstand in Houstoun Square, Johnstone.

A number of derelict sites in Erskine will also be improved in advance of development.