Hub plan to breathe life into shipyard

HUNDREDS of houses, a hotel and a new boulevard walkway are to be built at the site of a famous former Clyde shipyard as part of a multi-million pound regeneration project.

The majority of the old John Brown’s shipyard in Clydebank, where the QE2 and the Queen Mary were both built, has been wasteland for more than a decade.

The last ship was built there in 1972 and the yard was later used to build oil rig platforms until the gates were padlocked for the last time in 2001.

The land was bought by by private company Clydeside Regeneration in 2004 and the public-private Clydebank Urban Regeneration Company later sp e nt £16million on clearing and decontamination.

Now, a new deal will see essential infrastructure and ground works put in place by West Dunbartonshire Council, paving the way for an expected £250m of private money to create a ‘bustling community hub’, a ‘showpiece’ development of 1,000 new homes, a retail unit, hotel, care home and a health centre.

Patrick McGlinchey, the council’s convener for infrastructure and regeneration, said: “This is the biggest and most influential project the council has ever been involved in as we look to transform the former John Brown’s yard into a bustling community hub.”