Call for Clyde Czar to ensure regeneration boom continues

scotland today: 27 June 2005 17:56

There has been a controversial call to appoint a "Clyde Czar" to ensure the regeneration boom along the River continues for years to come. But the move could lead to troubled waters.

Clyde Regeneration took a major step forward today as Renfrewshire Riverside completed £10 million of private investment which is transforming the banks of the Clyde. Clyde View is the first public park in the West of Scotland for many years. The opening of Kings Inch Road is a four lane boulevard connecting Renfrew Town Centre and Braehead. But the Deputy Enterprise Minister Allan Wilson says a review will establish whether the wider strategic vision for Clyde Regeneration should be delivered by a separate vehicle.

He said: "I think we have to look at the delivery mechanism. I think we have to decide what is best for the Clyde. But how we can best get the local authorities and the Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise companies working with the private companies for maximum benefit to the community."

But former Glasgow Council leader Charles Gordon led the fight against a new Quango body controlling the Clyde re-generation process. Today as the council spokesman on the subject he was on the river launching the annual report which shows almost £2 billion has been spent over the last four years. Last week Glasgow Council approved setting up a private company to build a light railway by the Clyde, although at first it would be a guided bus route linking Glasgow City centre to Glasgow Harbour.

Charles Gordon said: "This is a corridor that will have millions of passenger movements up and down and along it every year. So it is essential that we have some early action. And it is better that we have a rubber wheels or bus based system. Initially, as a step in the direction of a new train system."

The task of turning round decades of decline and neglect on the Clyde will continue. But the present loose co-operative system of deciding future priorities and how to deliver them looks set to change.