Fight Must Go On to Revitalise Our Town

The redevelopment of Paisley town centre is an issue many local people feel strongly about.

Paisley deserves a modern town centre with new shops, dining, leisure facilities and homes.

I want a £50 million town centre turnaround fund to be introduced to make this a reality.

Labour pledged to introduce this if returned to government and I’m campaigning hard for these proposals to be considered by the new Executive.

The valuable help promised to cut small businesses rates bills will not revive our town centres unless other major steps are also taken. Rates cuts won’t solve the problem of derelict premises, which is one of the major issues facing Paisley.

We need a more focused approach to revigin our town centre, with the powers to use compulsory purchase to stop the decay of disused buildings.

I’d like to see the introduction of a range of measures to breathe new life into Paisley town centre, including:

• Free parking at the weekend
• A review of the roads system and the possibility of opening town centre streets, including St Mirin Brae, Smithills Street, Paisley Cross, Gauze Street and Lawn Street to traffic in both directions
• The construction of a new multi-storey car park, with free weekend parking
• Doubling the discount rate on small shops and businesses, with the smallest businesses paying no rates at all
• Bringing more people into the town centre by selling part of the council headquarters to make way for new housing.

LINWOOD ROAD SAFETY
Speaking of town centre regeneration, road safety campaigners in Linwood have been given a boost ahead of their town’s redevelopment.

Tesco has agreed to alter its plans for road access to its new store from Hart Street.

The retailer has agreed to only allow smaller home delivery vans to use this entrance.

The change came after local residents complained the street was too narrow to accommodate heavy goods vehicles. These will all now enter and leave via Kashmir Ave.

Tesco’s willingness to listen to local concerns bodes well for the town’s future, as does its commitment to 300 new jobs, a new superstore and new community hall.

NATIONAL DEPRESSION WEEK

We often think of young adulthood as a carefree time of fun and freedom.

But for some youngsters in Renfrewshire the reality is very different.

1 in 10 young people are affected by depression and other mental and emotional health problems.

As such, I was delighted to lend my support to Depression Alliance’s hard-hitting “Look OK…Feel Crap?” campaign, which highlights the range of support options available to sufferers and their families. For information, advice and support on depression please contact Depression Alliance Scotland by calling 0845 123 23 20>