2 weeks Ago
Louise was a great support to me during her time as chief executive, particularly over the past very difficult five months. She will be greatly missed. As we bid a fond farewell to Louise, I’m pleased to welcome the appointment of Stuart Jamieson, current director of environment and regeneration, as the new chief executive.
Stuart will formally take up post in a few weeks’ time. He has a wealth of experience in local government and the private sector and a strong knowledge of Inverclyde. In his current role, Stuart has helped bring in almost £90 million worth of additional, external investment to Inverclyde through the likes of the Glasgow City Region City Deal and the UK Government-funded Greenock Town Centre redevelopment (formerly Levelling Up) and Plan for Neighbourhoods (formerly Towns Fund) in recent years.
Like me, Stuart knows all too well the challenges the area has but also shares with me great enthusiasm and optimism for the huge potential that Inverclyde has. I look forward to continuing to work with Stuart in his new role and building on the good work that has already been done and, together, making the positive case for Inverclyde at local and national levels. With financial support from both the UK and Scottish governments, we are making improvements to the A78 through Inverkip to help pave the way for 650 homes and over 500 jobs at the former Inverkip Power Station site and address long-standing safety issues.
There will be signalised junctions created at Main Street and Harbourside, and Brueacre junction will be opened up to improve access to the ex-power station site. This project is a key component in unlocking the potential for the former power station site and will play a big part in attracting people, jobs, businesses, and inward investment to Inverclyde. As someone who has been associated with Clune Park since 1992, when I was elected as the local councillor for the first time, this has been a long-time coming.
The former school and church buildings within the estate will be knocked down, followed by an initial 138 properties across 15 tenement blocks. These works are being carried out in the interests of safety after dangerous buildings notices were served following extensive investigations by council building standards officers and external surveyors. It is the first phase of demolition at Clune Park, which comprises of 430 residential properties across 45 tenement blocks in total.
Work will be carried out by a local company, Greenock-based Caskie Limited, and the contractors have begun clearing the site and setting up in preparation for demolition works starting over the next couple of weeks. He was head of communications at COSLA (the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities), where he worked for almost 30 years, and sadly died much too soon after a brave battle with cancer. David was integral to major lobbying campaigns and was proud to work for councillors, local democracy and local government.
I worked closely with him when I was children and young people's spokesperson between 2017 and 2022. As well as a shared passion for local government, we shared a love for football and had some good banter over the years. It was fitting, therefore, that David’s send-off was at Tynecastle, the home of his beloved Hearts.
Rest in peace David..
