Councils make their mark and people have their say as waterfront towns find their purpose. By Bob Serafini

The point has often been made, most famously in The Economist magazine, that the British love their town centres – but like to look at them as they drive past on their way to Tesco.

That sums up the dilemma facing many of Scotland’s towns as they look to: revive their fortunes in a post-recession retail climate; offer something different from supermarkets and online shopping; and establish themselves as a destination, delivering positive reasons to attract visitors and residents into their economy.

The Herald:

West Dunbartonshire Council is committed to revitalising the town centre by moving the council head quarters from an out-of-town site to a refurbished historic site in the centre

The Herald:

The traditional high street was dealt a body blow during the economic crash. Household name retailers deserted in droves, halving the Scottish locations they considered prime from 40 to 20 and leaving a trail of vacant space to fill.

Town centre regeneration expert Dr Mark Robertson of Ryden said more than half the demand for traditional tenemented high street shops was not now retail but rather leisure uses, local estate agents, cafés, restaurants, artisans, crafts, community use and start-up businesses: "This is something that has almost snuck up on the planning system while a lot of people thought things would go back to the way they were," he said.

Commissioned by local authorities and enterprise bodies, he has led more than 20 studies across the country on what can be done to help town centres. This has included the increasingly popular charrettes – intensive planning sessions – with the local community, who often cut through the politics and know where they shop, where they drive to and the real situation on the ground.

Billfinger GVA’s latest study in this field suggests a reduction in empty floorspace and found evidence of increased vitality and viability in our high streets, with prime pitches now taking on a role beyond their function as shopping only streets.

But Richard Slipper, senior director, is critical of the lack of flexibility among planning authorities. He said: "Scottish development plans continue to lead with a policy of ‘control’ rather than a programme of facilitation. Many policies discourage non-retail uses within centres unfairly, despite research finding it is these uses which are lifting levels of activity in high streets, reducing vacancy levels and improving the vitality of smaller centres.

"There has been significant growth in service floorspace, which includes coffee shops, bars etc, and there is a clear trend towards this becoming increasingly important within town centres since the recession."

Appointment of a new planning minister this month could well be the driver for more flexibility in the way we approach development in our towns and city centres.

With backing for the "town centres first" principle from both the Scottish Government and local authority body COSLA, this is a part of our lives receiving increasing attention.

The Herald:

Kilmarnock was crowned Most Improved Town in the 2015 SURF awards

Respected regeneration body SURF now gives hotly contested awards for most improved small/medium and large towns (won last year by Barrhead and Kilmarnock respectively), while the Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) is the go-to body in this field, a promotion hub with a hive of activity to help share good practice and find practical support.

STP produces a detailed 100 page toolkit recognising people are the lifeblood of these communities, providing advice on all the issues around making a community attractive, active and accessible, and addressing everything from dealing with the Scottish weather to car parking, from encouraging more folk to live in town centres to the importance of providing what people want in this digital age.

Securing investment for improvements is difficult as public sector budgets are tighter than ever, but the organisation outlines many ideas and examples of how people and organisations can make their town centre more attractive.

Already some authorities have demonstrated their commitment. West Dunbartonshire has pledged to move 500 staff, and their associated spending power, from the outskirts of the town into the centre of Dumbarton.

Elsewhere, East Ayrshire has added to this approach with restoration of the Victorian streetscape in Kilmarnock, supporting a new college on redundant industrial land, and encouraging more residential development.

This Scotland’s Towns supplement on towns along the Clyde, from Clydebank and Dunoon round to Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock, is a sequel to the newspaper’s original and successful series published last year, and looks at how a variety of different places are looking positively to the future.

Interestingly, while real estate like this, with a waterfront, does carry an uplift in value and can drive more tourist interest to that location, Richard Slipper points out there can still be an old psychological difficulty to overcome with property developers and investors. Some still look for a 360 degree catchment for certain types of retail schemes – and can be shy of a shoreline reducing that by half.

But anyone visiting our Clyde towns, and meeting the friendly people, can counter that with a proud history and tradition that no one can ever take away, and they will witness a fresh energy being targeted at a new future in the years ahead. 

CHANGE BUILT ON PROGRESSIVE, VISIONARY STEPS

The river gave them work, but with heavy industry all but gone, towns lining the banks of the Clyde are having to find a renewed sense of purpose. By Ann Wallace

The Herald:

To the artisan bakers and gallery owners turning Finnieston into a cultural hub; or the tourists strolling along Greenock’s esplanade; or the brave bungee jumpers throwing themselves off Clydebank’s Titan Crane, the River Clyde is a backdrop to the buzz of contemporary life.

It is part of the beautiful scenery, all the way from the city centre to Dumbarton and Clydebank and beyond; a place of escape, of tree-lined walkways and gentle cycleways; somewhere to relax and go with the flow, time out from the bustle of ordinary life.

It’s changed days, of course, for the Clyde. The river’s contribution to Scotland’s regeneration may now have its roots in leisure, culture and modern coastal living – but once upon a time, it was its central role in the country’s heavy industries which made it the backbone of Scotland, and the envy of the world.

Shipbuilding on the Clyde dates back hundreds of years, but it was in the 18th century, as the tobacco and sugar trades expanded rapidly, that pressure was put on the powers-that-be to deepen the river to allow bigger vessels to dock.

During the 19th century, the shipbuilding industry to grow.
At the city end, Govan and its biggest yard Fairfield’s, was at the heart of operations but further down the Clyde, yards such as Bowling Harbour, Denny’s Shipyard in Dumbarton and John Brown’s Shipyard at Clydebank were all having a huge impact.

The Herald:

HISTORY CHANNEL: Clockwise from right, the QE2 is pictured making her way down the Clyde in 1968. New prosperity on the water at Inverkip. Clydebank’s Titan Crane has become a popular visitor attraction. The outdoor pool in Gourock is still a favourite place to cool off on a sunny day. Onlookers take snaps of the TS Queen Mary, above, as she returned home to the river earlier this week. The vessel, built in 1933, is the last remaining turbine steamship to be built on the Clyde at the William Denny shipyard at Dumbarton.

Denny’s in Dumbarton, for example, built more than 1,500 ships between 1844 and 1963, and was responsible for building the first steamship which crossed the channel, and the fast clipper Cutty Sark. The yards became some of the leading suppliers of the Royal Navy, especially during the First and Second World Wars.

In peacetime, however, the shipping industry went into decline. This had a devastating impact on the towns and communities along the Clyde who, for centuries, had relied upon shipbuilding for their livelihoods.

Towns like Greenock, Dumbarton and Clydebank were left with deep scars and high levels of deprivation persist in some areas. But visionary projects and investment, and a combined will from organisations and businesses along the coast, are battling hard to attract new industry, build new, exciting coastal housing developments, improve infrastructure and schools and boost tourism.

The Inverclyde Economic Development and Regeneration Strategy and Tourism Development Strategy, for example, continues to transform communities along the banks of the Clyde Estuary.

From tourism magnets like new marinas, water sports, recreational facilities and riverside walkways to services and housing for local people, there is a buzz of optimism and hope returning to towns once knocked sideways by the swift pace of de-industrialisation.

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SHIP SHAPE: Waverley cruises were once a byword for fun on the Clyde, but a wealth of leisure options have emerged in recent years.

Housing is key – with Glasgow and Edinburgh markets starting to overheat, the Clyde Coast towns are stepping in to provide a high-quality, affordable alternative, and with improvements to road and rail access, commuting has become a viable and attractive proposition for young professionals and families.

Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire Councils have invested heavily in improving schools and transforming the town centres in “anchor towns” such as Greenock, Dumbarton and Clydebank.

High streets and bright, modern shopping malls, such as Greenock Oak Mall, Dumbarton Plaza and Clydebank Shopping Centre, are becoming more dynamic, reminding people of the benefits of “keeping it local”, while local arts scenes are flourishing, showcasing the best home-grown talent and attracting bigger names from further afield.

Those who remember trips “doon the watter” in the Clyde’s holiday heyday of the 1960s and 70s – long before the days of cheap flights and summer holidays abroad – understand the beauty of the Firth and its location.

It is possible to board a Calmac Ferry and spend the day on the isle of Bute, or the scenic Cowal peninsula; or to be on Loch Lomondside within 15 minutes.

Of course, the regeneration of the Clyde and its towns is not about forgetting the past.

The legacy of the area’s proud shipbuilding days lives on, not just in physical reminders such as the Finnieston crane in Glasgow, but also in the remaining yards, still working hard at the heart of their communities, or the grand merchant homes along the waterfronts of Dumbarton and Greenock.

There are whole museums and collections dedicated to the Clyde – the Titan Clydebank, for example, restored to its former glory and opened up to the public, is a great example of how the Clyde’s great past and its exciting future combine.

Since opening in 2007, this award-winning attraction has welcomed everyone from grandparents with grandchildren to education groups and former shipyard workers and their families, as well as, of course, legions of hardy abseiling charity fundraisers.

A new West College Scotland building and business sector is also improving skills and prospects in an area previously associated with low opportunity.
“We want the waterfront to be a great place to work, to live and to enjoy leisure and lifestyle,” says Mark Barton, Marketing Manager of Clyde Waterfront Strategic Partnership.

“The International Financial Services District has been hugely successful in bringing overseas investment and new jobs. In recent years, along the waterfront, there have been over 18,000 new jobs created, 8,500 new homes built and 320,000 square metres of commercial space constructed. There is also £1.5 billion of further investment committed.”

All along the Clyde, examples of regeneration abound. There is a long way to go, but progress is being made.

Once known as the tough, hard centre of heavy industry in Scotland, the Clyde now has a new identity, with recreation, contemporary culture and a thriving modern family focus at its heart.

BLUE WATER THINKING IS ACCELERATING IMPROVEMENT

Putting the harbour at the centre of plans for regeneration is paying dividends in Inverclyde, discovers Ken Mann

Economic cycles don’t come in convenient waves of copy and repeat. To thrive, towns must either participate in the oxymoronic condition of permanent change – or preside over a path directed downward.

The community collective of “Inverclyde”, dominated by the three core centres of population of Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock, has selected the former course in the wake of its departure from historic norms.

The halcyon days of major shipbuilding, shipping and heavy engineering, then as home in the 1980s and 90s to global players in the electronics manufacturing sector, have come and in large measure have unceremoniously gone.

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SECURE FUTURE: Jim McColl has re-employed former skilled staff and taken on apprentices at Ferguson Marine.

Each has been diminished by the influence of cruel commercial rebalancing on a world scale.

The resulting vision, however, is of a regenerating locality of regional and national significance. A work in progress, yes, but one with recently rediscovered clarity of purpose.

And, it would contend, a practical plan.

Even as visitors enter Port Glasgow from the M8/A8 main arterial route, the visible renaissance of shipbuilding will please those seeking an immediate connection with an illustrious maritime past.

Ferguson Marine, the new name format given to the shipyard on the edge of town rescued from administration by Scottish engineering sector entrepreneur Jim McColl, has re-employed former skilled staff and is already expanding its headcount, including young apprentices.

The Clyde facility is undergoing a £12 million redevelopment, due for completion in the autumn. Impressively functional offices and other buildings rising at the yard entrance, next to the A8, offer their own statement of intent.

Clearly this is some way from being a mere pastiche tribute, cataloguing former glories. Instead its current and future success is anchored in high-efficiency ships using the latest propulsion, electronic and hydraulic technologies.

Quality “Clyde-built” commercial ship building lives on.

A particular speciality of recent years is the build of efficient passenger ferries – including world-first hybrid powered vessels.

Councillor Stephen McCabe, Leader of Inverclyde Council, admits it’s good to see technology-led investment with so much local resonance. He also points to the more general picture of an area in which families wish to relocate and prosper.

“We are investing £250m in making our school estate one of the best in the UK, providing high quality environments for learning and teaching,” he reports. “This investment should also assist with our strategy for arresting the area’s population decline, making Inverclyde an attractive place to raise a family.”

The £41m Port Glasgow Community Campus, the first of its type in Scotland, illustrates the point. It is home to three schools: Port Glasgow and St Stephen’s high schools and Craigmarloch Special School. It also has a fully functioning community wing with built-in enterprise centre and outdoor leisure facilities.

“Until fairly recently, many people probably had an image of Inverclyde as a place of industrial decline due to the loss of many of our traditional industries such as shipbuilding, sugar refining and heavy engineering,” says McCabe.

“Even the electronics sector is now in decline from its boom years of the 1980s.

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LEISURE: Last year Inverclyde welcomed 100,000 passengers from liners including the Queen Mary 2 and a £14.1m investment will create a new visitor centre, opening in September 2018.

“Return visitors are now pleasantly surprised by the physical changes they see along the waterfront. Industrial sites have largely been replaced by new business and retail parks, housing and leisure facilities.

“We are working hard to diversify our business base so that we are less reliant on a small number of large employers. It is great, however, to see the recent renaissance of Ferguson’s.”

In the hills above the Greenock municipal centre there is a clear view of the Argyll peaks and in closer aspect, a “quay” feature.

Ocean Terminal, the aptly named arrival berth for big liners and home to one of two Scottish high volume container port facilities handling export traffic, has expanded the tourism market.

Last year it welcomed more than 100,000 passengers. The Queen Mary 2 visited in 2015, adding gravitas to the port’s credentials and demand from cruise itinerary planners.

The Council succeeded in having the expansion of the terminal quayside included as one of the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal projects; these turbocharge regional development schemes with UK and Scottish Government assistance. The £14.1m enlargement will bring a new visitor reception centre, opening in September 2018.  

Riverside Inverclyde (RI) is an urban regeneration company overseeing a series of regeneration projects mainly over a 4.5 mile stretch of waterfront straddling both Greenock and Port Glasgow, but also in each of the main town centres.

Riverside Business Park is one project. It has emerged from previously derelict buildings and waste ground to create a base for more than 600 workers in companies, as the RI principals put it, “ranging from global to micro”.

James Watt Dock Marina and Development Area – referencing the renowned Grenockian engineer – has berths for up to 130 vessels and can accommodate future opportunities for mixed use development, including 1,000 residential units, a hotel and commercial or retail space.

Looking further ahead, Inchgreen – another quayside parcel of land and an eponymously named partnership between Inverclyde Council and facilities provider Peel Ports – is setting out to secure investment to redevelop the brownfield site, an underutilised quay and dry dock as a dedicated onshore marine hub. With an estimated cost of £9.4m, completion is earmarked for late 2022.

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The Beacon Arts Centre, above, has created a focus for culture and hospitality on the Custom House Quay.

Obviously it isn’t all about business and commerce. Leisure, arts and new homes are playing their own specific roles in anchoring and attracting population and spreading a reputation for an immersive brand of cultural attraction as well as innovative and distinctively designed facilities for fun, health and wellbeing.   

The multi-million pound Beacon Arts Centre, on the restored Custom House Quay, is a flagship modern hub that includes two performance spaces, rehearsal facilities and incorporates a bistro for pre and post theatre dining. It attracts popular and niche artists of national calibre.

In Gourock the historic heated outdoor swimming pool, a reminder of the Scottish West Coast tradition of holidays “doon the watter”, is now one of only two such examples in Scotland, its glory restored after a £2m refurbishment. Last year more than 80,000 customers took a dip.

STAGE IS SET FOR THE FASTEST SHOW ON WATER

Inverclyde is set to host racing in the Powerboat P1 Grand Prix of the Sea UK Superstock Championship next month, the first time the series has come to Scotland.

Powerboat P1 is a leading marine motorsport promoter. The event will be jointly hosted by Inverclyde Council and regeneration company Riverside Inverclyde (RI) and visible from Greenock’s Esplanade.

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FULL SPEED AHEAD: The Spirit of Inverclyde team – Dino Zavaroni (left) and Gordon Wicklow (right).

The Council’s Environment and Regeneration Convener, Councillor Michael McCormick, remarks: “With the tremendous assets we have, Inverclyde is the ideal location to host an event like this. TV broadcast will take us to a UK and potentially global audience.

“This shows the scale of our ambition to bring more high-profile activity. The Inverclyde Showcase (a parallel exhibition) is a crucial element to allow local tourism-related business to showcase what they do – to residents
and to visitors.”

Gerry McCarthy, Chair of Riverside Inverclyde, adds: “Apart from the great spectacle, the accompanying international profile provides a unique platform to supplement activities in positioning Inverclyde for mobile investment.

“This can be the catalyst for attracting return visits from the thousands expected to travel to Inverclyde to spectate.” The events, scheduled for June 18 and 19, will be shown on Sky Sports HD.

REFUSING TO COAST WILL TURN THE TIDE

By utilising the skills of local firms, the ongoing reinvention of Dunoon’s famous pier is a project the entire community is invested in, writes Andrea Pearson

Dunoon, Argyll’s second largest town, on the famous Cowal Peninsula and looking out onto the Holy Loch, owes its very existence to its idyllic waterfront location.

The building of the pier in 1835 allowed the town to come to prominence as it gave easy access to the paddle steamers bringing visitors from Glasgow.
By 1881, its extended 400ft jetty became the town’s dominant feature.

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And today the Waverley, the last ocean-going paddle steamer, still cruises down the Clyde to unload day trippers and holidaymakers at the famous pier.

Dunoon’s pier is once more at the heart of its regeneration and recent improvements are the just the first phase of a plan that will maximise the economic opportunities and help to create an attractive, vibrant and contemporary town centre.

It is hoped that this will in turn be a springboard for greater private sector investment in the waterfront area and the town centre as a whole.

Argyll and Bute Council has already completed a £2.83million structural repair and refurbishment of key elements of the wooden pier.

The works are being co-funded by the Scottish Government and the Local Authorities joint Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, with £300,000 awarded in 2014/2015 and a further £50,000 awarded for 2015/2016.

Where possible, local companies have been engaged to carry out the work. Among them are Dunoon contractor, G H Currie Blacksmiths and Forgemasters which designed and fabricated new gates and signage and John Tyre & Sons, which provided metalwork, while Hunter’s Quay provided accommodation for those workers and consultants who came from further afield.

The Herald:

Among some of the more intricate works were the replacement of matching windows and scallop-shaped shingles on the roof.

A brand new conference and social space has been created to attract continuing revenue.

Argyll and Bute Council itself is among the first clients to book the space as the Leader, Dunoon-based Councillor Dick Walsh, explained: ‘’It is really pleasing to see this project reach the finish line. As probably the best remaining example of a Victorian-era wooden pier in the country, the first phase of the refurbishment of Dunoon Pier is a flagship project for the council.

“The refurbished waiting room will be available for hire for events, conferences and meetings. In fact, we are so pleased with it we are looking to using it for area committees.”

He added that work would be continuing both at local and national level to secure funding for the ongoing improvements.

He said: “Beyond this work, we are eager to lobby for further funding at national level to fulfil our long-term ambitions for both the pier and its buildings – bringing all the pier buildings back in to viable economic use and securing the pier head. We are fully committed to exploring any and all opportunities to preserve this iconic structure for future generations, which is why the council has agreed to make any freed-up capital available for a second phase of work.

“This second phase could involve the refurbishment of the Thirties tea room and the Signal Tower building.   

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NO PIER PRESSURE: Once a popular holiday destination, Dunoon is banking on its coastal assets to renew its appeal. (Main image: George Leslie Ltd)

“As a council, our whole strategy is based on creating jobs and I’m sure that, by bringing the buildings on the pier back into use, we’ll do just that.’’
Some material benefits of the improvements have already radiated beyond the pier. Dunoon Grammar School will be creating benches and artworks from the reclaimed timbers.

The town’s most significant cultural amenity is the Queen’s Hall. Built in 1958, it has hosted the likes Pink Floyd, Primal Scream and Kevin Bridges and served as a wedding venue and fitness class studio. A major revamp will now see it repurposed for the 21st century.

Next year it will re-open, incorporating  a feature, double height glazed pavilion overlooking the Castle Gardens, café, library and modernised performance auditorium.

EFFORT ENSURES THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF TOWN

£3m restoration work aims to rejuvenate Helensburgh’s famous natural springs to their former glory, says Andrea Pearson

Helensburgh’s water has long been associated with healing and today its restorative powers are being called upon once more as the town tries to rebrand itself in the 21st century.

The town takes its name from the beloved wife of Sir James Colquhoun of Luss who, in the 18th century built a spa bath at natural springs on the site of the former Ardencapple Castle.

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The design of the town, laid out in the style of Edinburgh’s New Town, put the resort on the map for well-to-do travellers and Helensburgh even became an early commuter town thanks to a good ferry service from Greenock.

It was favoured by shipping tycoons and merchants from Glasgow, and, at weekends and holidays, Victorian workers flocked there from the city to fill their lungs with fresh air blowing in across the Firth. And the spring waters attracted industrialists, keen to aerate and bottle it for sale as ginger beer and lemonade for export across Europe and the Americas.

At the peak of its success, one quarter of Britain’s millionaires lived in the picturesque town of Helensburgh.

The original spa, which became known as the Hermit’s Well, became the focus of Hermitage Park, created for visitors in 1911 and well used in its heyday.

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ALL’S WELL: A multi-million project to restore the original spa area – known as Hermit’s Well – will take place this year in Hermitage Park.

After years of declining use, the Friends of Hermitage Park Association have partnered with Argyll and Bute Council to secure a £3m restoration and reconfiguration project, beginning in September
this year.

The collaboration has secured a £2.3m Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant towards bringing the green space back to its former glory. There will be new play and recreation spaces, as well as a contemporary pavilion and café.

There is also £280k from Argyll and Bute Council, £253k from the MOD Covenant Fund and the remainder from the War Memorial Trust and the Friends of Hermitage Park Association.

The park’s restoration adds to other works in Helensburgh to improve the public realm.

In Colquhoun Square, the Outdoor Museum has been shortlisted for six national and international awards for design, architecture and social improvement. Among the items on display are examples of Helensburgh’s industrious past – from replicas of the shoes made by skilled cobblers, historic glass bottles of aerated water, and contemporary art works.
Helensburgh Councillor Ellen Morton, Policy Lead for Infrastructure, says:

“Being positioned alongside cutting-edge projects from all over the country – and indeed world-wide – gets Argyll and Bute noticed, for all the right reasons.

The Herald:

STREET LIFE: Exhibits on show at the Outdoor Museum

“Our aim as a council is to attract jobs and people to the area and what better way to do that than being innovative and able to deliver challenging partnership projects. We also want to be able to develop spaces that people can enjoy and be proud of.”

Maximising the benefits of the fresh air and the outdoors has also been at the heart of the development of the Argyll Sea Kayak Trail, which was developed by Argyll and Bute Council in partnership with communities, kayakers, Scottish Canals and outdoors specialists Stramash.

The trail winds its picturesque way 150 km from Helensburgh to Ganavan, near Oban. It can be broken down into eight stages of between 13 and 29 kilometres to suit beginners and experts alike.

The development includes a number of safe launch points with refurbished slipways, car parks, pontoons on the Crinan Canal
and a wild camping site.