A new hub aiming to attract businesses to Rutherglen is to be established, South Lanarkshire Council have announced.
Further funding is also being earmarked for Cambuslang Main Street as part of investment in town centres through the region.
Almost £1million of additional Scottish Government funding will be invested in South Lanarkshire’s town centres, with the local authority adding a further £500,000 to the pot.
The funding will see Cambuslang’s streetscapes project getting an extra £225,000, with the money coming through the Town Centre Capital Grants Fund.
The project was previously awarded £620,000 last year, in an attempt to address residents’ concerns about cracked pavements.
Rutherglen will benefit from the council’s own contribution, with funding for a new hub to attract business start-ups or businesses looking to move to the town centre, along with design improvements for existing shops.
The project will be part-funded by a council grant of £78,782 and a further £25,000 from Moorgath Retail Ltd.
Head of planning and economic development, Pauline Elliot, told the council’s community and enterprise committee on Tuesday, November 24, that the time frame for the government funding had been extended by a year due to the UK-wide coronavirus lockdown in March.
She said: “All funds are to be committed by March 2021 and spent by September 2021.
“Six South Lanarkshire towns will have received funding.”
She added that some projects have been delayed due to Covid-19 and that some phase two funding had been used to ensure they are completed.
In March, councillors agreed to supplement funding from the Scottish Government’s Town Centre Capital Grants Fund with an additional £500,000 to give more communities the chance to benefit.
Ms Elliot told councillors that “the council’s own funding of £500,000 augments Scottish Government funding”.
Contingency funding of £96,716 has been held back by the council and will be available if some projects face unforeseen design and development issues or delays due to Covid-19.
It is not intended that contingency funding will cover any enhancements or increase in scope to any of the projects unless there is a revised application.
All 22 towns eligible under the Scottish Government scheme were eligible to bid for the council funding and bids from Bothwell, Lanark, Stonehouse and Uddingston were rejected.
Ms Elliot added that there was a “timing issue” for some of the proposed projects that were rejected and that they couldn’t guarantee they would be complete by the March 2022 deadline.
