Council’s £2m catalyst to attract investment
Paving the way for huge city regeneration project
Councillors have agreed an initial £2 million package of measures aimed at securing longer term ambitions for a £200 million transformation of Stirling.
Stirling Council’s finance and economy committee recently approved proposed allocations for a number of projects to be completed by the end of March 2017, all aimed at paving the way for more major developments and investment.
Discussions are said to be underway with both the UK and Scottish Governments and with potential investors in the private and third sectors in a bid to realise the £200 million of funding needed for Stirling’s City Development Framework (CDF).
It includes a range of ambitious proposals to regenerate the city including the building of a civic quarter with new council offices in Forthside, creation of a digital hub in the council’s Municipal Buildings and proposals for the Top of the Town and River Forth.
The council agreed in February to allocate £2 million of capital investment in 2016/17 to establish initial work, allocation of which the committee approved last week for a number of projects.
The £2 million spend is being seen as a “catalyst” for securing “larger externally sourced investment”. Here’s how the money will be spent:
•£400,000 on City Park – The main park space would include the field at Falleninch and extend up to the castle and the existing walks and features including King’s Knot, Back Walk, Gowanhill, The Haining and the Kings Park. Defined and open spaces, a “major water feature”, physical activity zones, mini Stirling Council woodland and community orchard growing are proposed. As well as a paths network there would be “a sustainable anchor business - supporting the visitor experience and employment and training opportunities”. The initial £400,000 would be spent on completing the Kings Park path network (£150,000); continuing improvement to the Back Walk (£100.000); securing gateway route improvements and wall repairs within the City Park (£100,000), and extending public art and street furniture works across the city park area (£50,000).
•The River (£600,000) - A sum of £500,000 has been allocated to repair and restore the harbour wall and £100,000 to complete ground condition and river investigation works with a view to optimising opportunities on the river.
•Digital District (£600,000) - Seen as an “early win for Stirling”, growth potential is described as “substantial”, with £250,000 allocated to the Municipal Buildings facade and reception in a bid to enhance what the council says is already seen by potential investors as a “stimulating” environment for a digital hub.
Improvements to the Wolfcraig building would cost £350,000 to allow it to be used first as council office space then potentially as a satellite building for the digital hub.
• Civic Quarter (£650.000)
•Mercat Cross and City Centre regeneration (£300,000) - Pilot test of city market pods (£30,000); reinstatement of the catering kitchen at the Tolbooth aimed at “supporting community interactions and stimulating social enterprise” (£30,000); and public realm, streetscape and lighting improvements (£240,000).
•Rural development drink, hospitality, and tourism, and digital technology.
•Marketing Stirling’s shared vision for the city and surrounding areas is to realise the true potential of the area as an economic and cultural powerhouse.
“The scale of ambition is high and the final investment proposition will mirror this aspiration. Similar investment proposals announced recently for Scottish cities have seen public investment packages of £504m, £315m and £1.15 billion secured for Aberdeen, Inverness and Glasgow city region deals respectively. Edinburgh is working on a city region bid in the region of £1 billion.”