Better Barrhead News - Archive August 07
Health Centre Planning Application
East Renfrewshire planners have recently received a planning application from the Health Board for the proposed new health & social care centre on the site of the old Carlibar Primary School at Main Street, Barrhead.
The building will be over three and a half storeys and will have a floor area of around 6,000m2. The approved projectcost of the project is £18m with £15M from the NHS and £3M coming from the council through the East Renfrewshire community health and care partnership (CHCP).
It is proposed that the existing health centre site will be demolished and then redeveloped for retail and other uses after the new centre is occupied in 2010.
The building will be occupied by the CHCP, a new and innovative partnership between the local NHS services and the Council’s social work services. The new centre is responsible for delivering all local health and social care services for the residents of East Renfrewshire in an integrated way. More on how the CHCP works and what it does can be found at www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/erchcp.htm
The Main Street development will re-house the Glennifer, Levern and Oaks doctors’ surgeries, elderly day care facilites currently at Neislton, NHS and dental services, physiotherapy, podiatry, child health services, speech therapy, Sandyford Initative clinical services, adult mental health services and staff bases for outreach services.
Better Barrhead in the Evening Times 3rd April 2008
The Evening Times featured a story about the Better Barrhead initiative. To see the story or to leave a comment on the Evening Times blog please click on the link below.
Evening Times Better Barrhead news item.
Better Barrhead on Display 2nd April 2008
If you are interested in finding out more about the regeneration plans for Barrhead why not pop in to the Council Offices on Main Street Barrhead where we have a brand new display board and the 3-D model. Both the display board and the 3-D model will be updated regularly to keep up with the latest developments and news about the regeneration of Barrhead.
The display boards and model won't have be manned by regeneration staff but there is a contact number and email address available so if you have any questions or queries about Better Barrhead please feel free to contact the team.
Better Design for Better Barrhead 1st April 2008
A new design consultant has been appointed to push forward town centre regeneration in Barrhead.
As part of the council’s better Barrhead regeneration scheme Gillespies has been appointed for the next three years to work on public spaces (for more information see the public space page on this website) and urban design.
Regeneration convener, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “Gillespies have an excellent reputation and we’re looking for the best designed town centre we can for a truly better Barrhead.”
Consultants from Gillespies will work with the council’s better Barrhead team, the local community and businesses to develop designs for public spaces including the Main Street, Cross Arthurlie Street and the new civic square.
New Road Gets Underway 31st March 2008
One of the biggest infrastructure improvements for a generation gets underway this week in Barrhead
As part of the £110m ‘Better Barrhead’ town centre regeneration plans Land Engineering (Scotland) Ltd. of Fenwick have won the job of realigning Glen Street in the town.and members of the Better Barrhead Regeneration Board were on hand to witness the start of the first days work.
The new road, which will include a new roundabout, will run past the site of the proposed new supermarket and car park and the site of the college planned for the town and will join up with the existing Glen Street at the Levern Water. The finance for the road is being provided by City Vision funding.
Regeneration convener, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “This is one of those key moments in the regeneration plan where residents will see physical work starting. There’s been a massive amount of background work, surveys, examination and consultation. Now with the new road at Glen Street a better Barrhead is starting to take real shape.”
The new road is due for completion in August or September this year when it will be opened to the public. The second phase, which will continue the road along the Levern Water to Cross Arthurlie Street, is currently being designed and will be built at later date.
Glen street contractor
A contractor has been appointed to drive forward plans for a new Glen Street in Barrhead. As part of the council’s better Barrhead regeneration plans the town’s Glen Street will be realigned. The successful contractor is Land Engineering (Scotland) Ltd. of Fenwick.
Regeneration convener, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “Land engineering has a very good reputation for working with public sector employers on town centre improvement works and we are looking forward to work starting on the new road.
Early work on the site will start at the end of this month and the road is due for completion in August or September this year.
Barrhead’s newest road is streets ahead after planners gave it the green light.
The council’s planning committee has agreed to plans for a new link road in the town as part of the multi-million pound regeneration scheme. The road will go from the Main Street, past where the new supermarket will be built, and link up with Glen Street. The plans also include a roundabout.
Work on the £900,000 scheme is expected to start in the spring and the council’s better Barrhead team will be appointing a contractor by the end of February.
The main work should be completed by September 2008, with landscaping to follow in November.
Local people will get on the job training as the council will sign up a contractor who will train local people in construction skills as part of the project.
East Renfrewshire’s regeneration convener, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “The new road will make a significant impact in bringing the two main shopping districts in the town closer together.
“This is a major piece of investment in the towns infrastructure and is a real opportunity to develop much-needed construction skills in the town.”
Construction of the road will be done in a way that minimises disruption to traffic, with the general aim that the existing Glen Street will not be closed to traffic until the new road is finished and opened to the public.
Check out the new supermarket
The site for a new supermarket in Barrhead has been advertised to attract top name retailers to the town.
Major developers have until the end of March to put forward their proposals for a supermarket, car park and a possible petrol station. These developers will need to complete what’s called a pre-qualification questionnaire showing what they can bring to the town and their financial and retail background.
East Renfrewshire’s regeneration convener Councillor Tony Buchanan welcomed the move saying: “This is an important move to bring a major retail development into the heart of the town. The supermarket will be the link between our main shopping districts – Cross Arthurlie Street and Main Street.”
As part of the plans, developers will be asked to examine the possibility of linking the new supermarket with the Main Street through new retail developments on the site of the old health centre which is due to be replaced by the new purpose-built centre.
“Over the past year there’s been a great deal of work going on in the background to pull all of the recent plans together. The health centre plans are well progressed and council planners will be going through them with a fine tooth comb soon,” added Councillor Buchanan.
To find out more about plans in the town visit the website www.betterbarrhead.com or visit the permanent display at the council offices at East Renfrewshire Council’s Barrhead Main Street offices.
Better Barrhead: The Why and What of Regeneration
The latest Public Spaces event has been developed as a result of comments made informally and formally over the past few months. The Better Barrhead team would like to offer you the chance to attend an information session related to the Regeneration Framework. At this event we will do our best to explain why the regeneration project was started up, what the point of each project is and to have a discussion about the overall aims.
We realise that this may seem like a bit of a backward step given the ongoing focus on public spaces but we have been regularly asked to try and explain the Better Barrhead project a little better and the event should be informative and useful I know from my own personal experiences that there are concerns and confusion regarding the purpose of some of the projects.and we will do our best during this event to clarify as much of the detail as is possible.
The event will take place on Thursday the 13th of March at the Voluntary Action Offices, 56 Kelburn Street, Barrhead. At the moment we would like to offer you the opportunity to attend either a daytime event or an evening event. We would greatly appreciate if you could let us know if you wish to come along and if you could specify your preferred time:
Daytime Event: 1pm – 3pm
Evening Event: 7pm – 9pm
Please use the contact details noted below to let us know or to ask any questions about the event.
Gavin Russell
Phone: 0141 577 3499
email: gavin.russell@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
Pat Finnell
Phone: 0141 577 8606
email: pat.finnell@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
Three magic roundabouts
Plans for upgrading three roundabouts in Barrhead have been put forward. The better Barrhead regeneration scheme new artwork will be used to make these gateways into the town much more attractive. To do this, the better Barrhead team has engaged the services of an artist and students from local schools.
Better Barrhead has just submitted planning applications to the Council for three roundabouts that are proposed for Barrhead. (22nd January 2008). The roundabouts are located at the junction of Blackbyres Road and Glasgow Road, a new entrance to Shanks Park opposite the Blackbyres Farm access and the junction of Blackbyres Road and Grahamston Road.
The three roundabouts will have iconic artworks located on them which will reflect Barrhead's strong history and its promising future.
The funding for this project has come from an allocation of Scottish Government funding called ‘City Growth’ as part of the wider Greater Glasgow area. The aim is to make the roundabouts integrate better with the wider Glasgow metropolitan area, improve transport flows and improve the image of the business sites along Blackbyres Road.
Plans for 82-84 Cross Arthurlie Street
A planning application has been submitted for 82-84 Cross Arthurlie Street. The two houses that have lain vacant on the site for a number of years were recently demolished with a view to opening the site up for future development. The owner of hte site has recently submitted a planning application to East Renfrewshire Council requesting permission to develop commercial units on the ground floor with 9 flats being developed over three floors.
If you would like more information on this application please contact Derek Scott on extension 577 3034 citing reference number 2007/0582/TP.
Building from the ground up
East Renfrewshire’s regeneration boss is praising the start of demolition work that could pave the way forward for a jobs and business boost in Barrhead.
Councillor Tony Buchanan visited Shanks Park to see for himself the 8,000 square metre ‘Benchmark’ building getting torn down by council contractors.
Regeneration convener, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “We want to see Shanks Park become an excellent place to do business in Barrhead and become a major local employer. The potential is there and with this demolition we’re making a major commitment to the regeneration of Shanks. With this building we can start to build Shanks Park from the ground up.”
Watch This Public Space
Local businesses and residents, community groups, support organisations and pupils from the town’s two high schools got together recently to hear about the proposed public space improvements planned as part of the better Barrhead regeneration process.
Over 50 locals turned up including representatives from local businesses Bluestone Design, D+A Young, Dick Properties, Direct Telecom, Glen Muir Motors, Layden Group and senior pupils from Barrhead High and St Luke’s high also went to along to learn about the proposals.
Also in attendance were representatives from ER Access Panel, East Renfrewshire Twinning Association, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Barrhead Community Council, Jobs Action Team and Alzheimers Scotland.
The proposals discussed were the creation of a new civic square on Barrhead Main Street, improvements to the parklands along the Levern Water, and improvements to the environment of Main Street and Cross Arthurlie Street.
After an informal ‘meet and greet’ session where those attending could chat with the council’s better Barrhead team, there was a brief presentation outlining the proposed projects.
The team emphasised that this was a genuine chance for the Barrhead community to get involved in the regeneration process and to let the team know what they would like to see happen to their town.
After the presentations there was a chance to question the regeneration team members and for the team to put its views across about the most suitable way to develop Barrhead’s public spaces.
This meeting was the first of a series of events that will be based around raising the profile of the public space works.
A future events programme will be published shortly and a community page dedicated to this work will shortly be placed on this website.
However, if you have any comments or questions, suggestions on events that you would like to see happen or more importantly, would like to be added to the mailing list for this project please contact Gavin Russell of the better Barrhead team on 0141 577 3499 or on email at gavin.russell@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk.
Front of House Facelifts 7/09/07
Two shop fronts are set for a facelift thanks to the better Barrhead project.
For the shop fronts for Barrhead Housing Association on the Main Street and the Jobs Action Team in Cross Arthurlie Street will be improving their shop fronts after receiving grants through the Shop Front Grant Scheme.
Regeneration convener Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “Improving the shop fronts across the town is just one of the ways that we can help to improve the appearance of local businesses and organisation and make our shopping and business areas more appealing to local residents and to visitors.”
Barrhead Housing Association has been given a grant of £5,000 to remove a glass façade and replace with new door and window at their Main Street offices.
The improvement is part of a major investment in the property internally and externally.
The successful Jobs Action Team on Cross Arthurlie Street has been given a grant of £1321.50 to replace roller shutters and install ant-glare film.
The Shop front grant scheme offers grants of up to £5000 to local businesses, shops and companies to make improvements to their shop front.
Local businesses can pick up a leaflet at the council’s Main Street offices or in Barrhead library or call 0141 577 3044 for more information.
Road Plan Gets Moving 6/09/07
The Better Barrhead team at East Renfrewshire Council is putting in place plans to upgrade and realign a road as part of the £100m+ regeneration plan for Barrhead town centre.
They’ve published plans to realign Glen Street from Main Street to North/South Park Avenue and are seeking the views of local people. This is the first phase of two, but there are no specific dates yet for the second phase that would continue from Park Avenue to Cross Arthurlie Street.
Regeneration convener, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “Realigning Glen Street is a key component of our regeneration plans.”
The road plans are available during normal working hours at the Council’s Giffnock headquarters, offices in Barrhead Main Street, Barrhead library and the Council’s roads service in Spiersbridge Business Park, Thornliebank.
The Council aims to have the first part of its work on Glen Street completed by March 2008 of the year and want to hear from any interested parties by 14 September 2007. Further information on the proposals can be obtained from Julian Morris, Regeneration Manager at julian.morris@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk or on 0141 577 3177.
Plans for a Better Barrhead 6/09/07
Local business bosses last week heard how Barrhead town centre is set to be transformed over the next five years.
Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce invited East Renfrewshire Council’s regeneration manager Julian Morris to talk to over 60 representatives of the Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire business community at the chamber’s monthly platform lunch in the burgh’s Dalmeny Park Hotel.
Julian, who joined the Council in 2005, is leading the ‘Better Barrhead’ project which will see a new supermarket, health centre, college, multi-storey car park and up to 700 new houses built in the town as well as extensive enhancements to the commercial areas and public spaces.
He gave an overview of the Barrhead Regeneration Framework, the Town Centre Masterplan, the key projects that will be taken forward and how these tie in with other Council projects, policies and initiatives.
The event was jointly sponsored by East Renfrewshire Council, Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce and East Renfrewshire Chamber of Trade and Commerce.
Economic Outcome Study for Barrhead – 5/09/07
Barrhead is set for a health check.
But, it’s designed to check on how the local economy is performing.
The better Barrhead regeneration team has just commissioned Hall Aitken Consultants to undertake an ‘Economic Outcome Study’. This study will provide valuable information and statistical details to help plan ahead for the £100m better Barrhead project.
The first part of the study will be to provide figures about the expected job and training outcomes that will become available as a result of the Better Barrhead regeneration projects. The consultants will also be advising the better Barrhead team on the best way to ensure that the community benefits from these job and training opportunities are maximised locally.
The other component of the study is the creation of a ‘Town Centre Health Check’.
This pulls together statistical and anecdotal evidence to give an overview of how well a town centre is performing over time.
Regeneration convener, Councillor Tony Buchanan, said: “Using hard statistical information gives us an opportunity to examine exactly what the position is with the local economy. We can measure jobs and training opportunities and examine areas like customer satisfaction, rental values and the number of vacant units all to help plan and build a better Barrhead.”
“The information and statistics will be updated annually to allow comparison of the town centre’s economic and social performance over the years.”
For more information on this story contact Gavin Russell on 577 3499 or gavin.russell@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
Public Spaces Group first meeting – 5/09/07
Regeneration bosses are going public on public spaces.For, as part of the £100m better Barrhead regeneration plans, they’ve set up a special event to let local residents and community groups know about future plans for public spaces.
The meeting will be held on Tuesday 2 October 2007 at 6pm in the voluntary action offices in the Westbourne Centre, Barrhead.
And they’re calling on local community groups and individuals with an interest in the regeneration plans for the town to come along and find out more.
At this meeting the Better Barrhead team will give a brief presentation of the proposed public space projects,
These include a new park along the Levern Water, a civic square, footpath connections and ‘commercial enhancement zones’ at Main Street and Cross Arthurlie Street. Those attending the event will then be given an opportunity to ask questions about the projects and to have a conversation with the Better Barrhead team about each of the projects.
This event will be interactive and informal and that it will be just the start of an ongoing collaboration with the community.
The Better Barrhead team will be using Communities Scotlands ‘National Standards for Community Engagement’ as a tool to ensure that at all times, the group acts in a fair, transparent and understandable way. For more information on the National Standards use the following link or use the contact details provided below to find out more.
Communities Scotland: National Standards for Community Engagement
Over 100 community organisations have been informed about the event and adverts will be placed in the local press in the forthcoming weeks. While we are hopeful that we have extended the invite to a wide range of groups and individuals, we are more than happy to accept any additional suggestions regarding those who should be invited. If you are a member of a group or are just interested in coming along to the event yourself and have not received an invite, please feel free to get in touch with us using the contact details provided below and we will add you to our mailing list.
Gavin Russell – 577 3499: gavin.russell@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
Local business bosses last week heard how Barrhead town centre is set to be transformed over the next five years.
Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce invited East Renfrewshire Council’s regeneration manager Julian Morris to talk to over 60 representatives of the Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire business community at the chamber’s monthly platform lunch in the burgh’s Dalmeny Hark Hotel.
Julian, who joined the council in 2005, is leading the ‘Better Barrhead’ project which will see a new supermarket, health centre, college and multi-storey car park built in the town.
He gave an overview of the Barrhead Regeneration Framework, the Town Centre Masterplan, the key projects that will be taken forward and how these tie in with other council projects, policies and initiatives.
The event was jointly sponsored by East Renfrewshire Council, Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce and East Renfrewshire Chamber of Trade and
The group photo shows, left to right, East Renfrewshire Council’s regeneration and economic development convener Councillor Tony Buchanan, Duncan Dick, president of East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce, East Renfrewshire Council’s regeneration manager Julian Morris and Tom Johnston, President, Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce.