Multi-million facelift plan for West End

Oct 6 2008 by Cameron Hay, Paisley Daily Express

A RUN-DOWN, crime-ridden area of Paisley is in line for a massive facelift.

Hundreds of derelict homes and shops are to be targeted and transformed as part of a 10-year masterplan to regenerate the town’s West End.

Council chiefs and police will work together to tackle drug-related crime and poor housing areas.

More than 50 per cent of shop units in the area are empty and many council flats are lying vacant or have fallen into disrepair.

Run-down areas such as Well Street, Sutherland Street and Brown Street will be given top priority and the empty shops could be converted into more homes as part of a new regeneration strategy, which is now out for consultation.

Planning chiefs hope that millions of pounds of new investment will improve the area’s image and attract housing developers.

Jim Kerr, secretary of the Paisley West and Central Community Council, welcomed the proposals with caution.

He said: “We’ve been campaigning for something like this since the community council formed back in July this year – it was our raison d’etre.

“At our meetings, regeneration has been a central plank of our action as we see it as fundamental to the improvement of Paisley’s housing stock, attracting developers and improving the economy of the town.

“At the community council, we support the development of existing stock.

“What we don’t want to see is luxury flats being put up that the people of the West End cannot afford.

“Gentrification in other areas has led to the people who live there being forced out of their homes and we don’t want to see that for the West End.

“We want the council to be careful when considering development to make sure it is for the people who live there.”

Many of the dilapidated tenements and many of the shop units have been derelict for years.

The area has been declared as one of 11 priority neighbourhoods for regeneration in Renfrewshire.

The development plan will be finalised after tenants, homeowners and retailers submit views later this year.

Meanwhile, Historic Scotland has backed a radical plan to turn Paisley town centre into a conservation area.

The proposal would see the protected zone extended from Paisley Cross and Oakshaw through to Causeyside Street, Gordon Street, Orchard Street and Canal Street station.

Town centre bosses hope to secure £1.5million from the lottery-backed Townscape Heritage Initiative for the work.