The week ahead...

Monday
At work until 3.00 and then down to Greenock for an all Members' briefing at 4.00. In the evening I will be chairing a meeting of the Clune Park Task Group.
Tuesday
At work in the morning. In the after I have meetings at 2.00 (Regeneration Committee), 3.00 (Policy & Resources Committee) and 4.30 (weekly meeting with the Chief Executive). At 6.00 I have a surgery in St Francis' Primary School.
Wednesday
At work until 1.00. At 2.00 I will be attending a presentation on Members' Continuing Professional Development framework. I have meetings of the Administration at 4.30 and Labour Group at 5.30. In the evening I will be attending a civic reception to mark the 250th anniversary of Wellpark Mid Kirk.
Thursday
At work in the morning. In the afternoon I have meetings at 3.00 (Police briefing), 4.00 (education briefing) and 4.45 (Inverclyde Youth Council).
Friday
Through at COSLA in Edinburgh most of the day. In the later afternoon I have a meeting with Iain McKenzie MP and Duncan McNeil MSP.

Demolition in progress at former Port Glasgow High School...

Turf being laid at new community sports facility...

I was down at Parklea playing fields in Port Glasgow this afternoon and was pleased to see that the contractor has started laying the artificial turf on the pitch at the new community sports facility.

The £2.9m facility - which will be home to Port Glasgow Juniors and available for wider community use - is due for completion in 2012.

The week ahead...

A quieter week this week:
Monday
At work all day. In the evening I am attending a meeting of the Woodhall Task Group at 6.30 in Woodhall Tenants' Hall.
Tuesday
Another full day at work. No evening Council commitments but parents' night at my younger children's school.
Wednesday
At work until mid afternoon and then down to Greenock for meetings at 4.30 (Administration Group) and 5.30 (Labour Group).
Thursday
At work all day with no evening commitments.
Friday
Early morning site visit in Kilmacolm to discuss proposed new pedestrian crossing point and then off to work for the rest of the day. No evening commitments.
Sunday
Representing the Council at Remembrance Sunday services in Greenock.

Work progressing on shared campus...

It is good to see that work is now well underway on the construction of the Council's new £44m shared school campus in upper Port Glasgow. Driving up and down Kilmacolm Road most days will allow me to monitor progress on this exciting project.

Consultation on Port Town Centre proposals...

Riverside Inverclyde and Inverclyde Council are proposing to undertake a series of environmental improvement projects within the Port Glasgow town centre area.

In order to consult with the local community and interested parties on the initial proposals a public exhibition will be held in the Port Glasgow Library on Wednesday 16th November (10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.) and Thursday 17th November (12.00 noon to 7.00 p.m.) at which a representative from Riverside Inverclyde will be available to answer any questions.

Forms will be available for members of the community and interested parties to leave comments for Riverside Inverclyde to consider when developing their proposals further.

I would encourage as many people as possible to visit the exhibition and have their say. It is important that the final proposals that are developed have the support of the community.

SNP betrayal over RI...

Riverside Inverclyde has been told it will receive no more money from the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise after March 2013.

This is devastating news for Inverclyde and one which undermines all of the hard work that is going on to deliver real change and improvements in people’s lives. We were shocked earlier this year when this funding was cut by 60%, but to add insult to injury we now face a further cut of 37.5% to £2.5 million in 2012-2013 before the plug is finally pulled. This Council has put the regeneration of the area at the top of its delivery agenda and has backed up that commitment by meeting its funding obligations to Riverside Inverclyde in full despite our own budgetary pressures.

Riverside Inverclyde was established in 2007 as a ten year initiative to transform Inverclyde into a more attractive place for the private sector to invest and for jobs to be created.

Funding was to be provided by the Scottish Government (£36 million), Scottish Enterprise (£33 million) and Inverclyde Council (£24 million).

Riverside Inverclyde is currently undertaking a variety of projects including the £180 million development of the historic James Watt Dock in Greenock, the regeneration of Greenock, Gourock and Port Glasgow town centres and the development of the Victoria and East India Harbours.

We had recently been given assurances that Riverside Inverclyde would be funded throughout its ten years so this news came as a complete shock. I have asked the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment to honour a commitment in the Scottish Government’s own Spending Review of continued investment in areas that need additional support and re-think this decision. So much good work has been done over the past four years it would be a betrayal to deprive the people of Inverclyde the future which they deserve and towards which so much good work has already been done.