Irvine Bay Regeneration Company (IBRC), the largest by area of the urban regeneration organisations established in the 2000s to counter market failure and social deprivation, is to be wound up by 2017, with its functions to be assumed by North Ayrshire Council.
The transfer of responsibility for upgrading North Ayrshire's urban environment and attracting new business - particularly pharmaceutical manufacturing business - is being engineered as a "soft landing" for the urban regeneration company (URC), which covers five towns and 14 miles of the Ayrshire coastline.
The early announcement and planning is a clear attempt to avoid a repeat of the more abrupt and contentious demise of other URCs such as Clydebank Rebuilt and Riverside Inverclyde, a mark of the "strong relationships" between its eight staff and their local authority counterparts.
Patrick Wiggins, IBRC's chief executive told the Sunday Herald: "Nothing is forever. We are not daft, things change, different policy priorities come in. At the end of the day it becomes necessary to make changes because of the funding arrangements, and we needed to take a long, hard look at what we had to do over the next few years.
"We felt that if you are going to wind something down, let's do it positively, lets create the legacy, and make sure we have proper handover. We have achieved a lot, we are proud of that, but it is time to pass on the baton."
The decision to transfer IBRC's responsibilities to the council's economic development team by March 2017 was considered by the council's cabinet and IBRC board last week at separate meetings.
Members of the cabinet were told that changes to the national policy and funding environment for regeneration - together with the council's strengthening capacity and commitment to economic development - favoured a managed wind-down.
A council spokesman said: "The proposals recognise the significant successes achieved by IBRC since it was formed in October 2006 and state that the wind-down of its activity would be closely managed to ensure the best outcomes for residents and to maintain a high level of activity up to March 2017.
"It is proposed that IBRC will continue to be funded and supported by the council for the next three years to ensure the Legacy Business Plan delivers significant transformation for the area during the wind-down phase."
IBRC's business plan includes continued promotion of i3, Irvine's Enterprise Area, including capital investment to provide appropriate commercial property stock and build on the positive momentum already seen at the site; the delivery of several major town-centre public realm projects; and the implementation of a number of community legacy initiatives.
In addition, the council is set to purchase five areas of land from IBRC to allow continued regeneration activity on strategic sites.
Wiggins, who formerly worked for Scottish Enterprise and Bradford Council, listed Irvine Bay's greatest achievements as securing or creating 777 jobs, about half of those originally promised before 2020; the regeneration of "urban realm" in some of Scotland's most neglected small towns; and the securing of enterprise zone status offering tax breaks for firms that move to the area, rather than to speculative developers.
The jewel in Irvine Bay's crown is i3, formerly the Riverside Business Park, now being heavily marketed as "southwest Scotland's leading innovation and industrial investment location".
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