My column in today's Greenock Telegraph...

2014 is a year I will never forget. On a personal level it was arguably the most difficult year of my life to date, not least because of the death of my Mother.

Politically it was without doubt the most difficult year of my life. Being at the front and centre of the local No campaign, I had never before experienced such hostility and anger towards me and my Party.

2015 promises to be no less challenging for Scottish Labour. With the SNP looking to re-run the independence referendum during May’s UK General Election, we face a tough battle to hold onto our Westminster seats here and across Scotland.

It will also be a challenging year for the Council as we address the tough decisions required to balance the books in the years ahead due to anticipated funding cuts and the ongoing Council Tax freeze.

The Council will still spend over £200m a year on services however and along with our partners in the public, third and private sectors we will be able to make significant investments in improving our community infrastructure.

2015 will see the completion of the refurbishments and extensions of Ardgowan and St John’s Primary Schools. Work will start on the refurbishment of Kilmacolm Primary School and a new school for St Patrick’s in Greenock. There will be improvements carried out in some of our pre-five centres to support increased provision for 2-3 years olds and a number of our primary schools will get new games areas.

Community facilities will be improved with work starting on new centres for Inverkip and Broomhill in Greenock; the opening of new I Youth Zones in Gourock and Port Glasgow; Ravenscraig Sports Centre being re-modelled to provide a new click and climb facility; and the completion of the new Gibshill community centre. Several new play parks will open in the year as will the new skate park in Battery Park.

The Council will continue to invest major sums in upgrading our roads network and a range of flood alleviation projects will be undertaken to tackle some of the area’s worst flooding hotspots.

2015 will see the start and completion of new social housing developments by local housing providers, including at Woodhall and Lower Mary Street in Port Glasgow. I also hope to see positive progress on our strategy to demolish the poor quality housing in the Clune Park area.

The Council’s regeneration agency Riverside Inverclyde is progressing major projects. A new business centre will open in Port Glasgow town centre and the second phase of the Kelburn Business Park will be completed, significantly improving what the area has to offer in terms of modern industrial and commercial space. Work will start on the final phase of the refurbishment of Greenock’s historic Custom House and the Gourock pier head redevelopment project is scheduled for completion by October 2015.

The private sector is playing its part in the area’s regeneration. The new ‘Tail of the Bank’ restaurant will open at the Greenock harbours in the spring and work will start on the new Clydebuilt retail park at Port Glasgow. When completed, this development will add significantly to the retail offer available in Inverclyde.

As you can see, despite the continuing economic and political uncertainty facing the country, 2015 should be another year of progress for Inverclyde.

I wish you all a Happy New Year.