Published 13 Sep 2012 12:26
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A VISION of Barrhead’s Main Street transformed beyond recognition will see 830,000 injected into the public spaces and gardens.
East Renfrewshire council are putting the foundations in place for a landscaping overhaul of the aging Main Street.
Should the ASDA plans get the go ahead, 800,000 has been pledged by the supermarket giant as part for their contract with East Renfrewshire Council to improve the public spaces on the Main Street.
This would include the brand new civic square that will take the place of the now abandoned old health centre.
And council bosses could slash 20,000 off the costs of landscaping if they appoint the same landscaping contractor as ASDA.
A council spokesman said: “It was decided that it was best to use one architect for economies and better design outcomes. It will probably cost 30k doing it this way as opposed to 55k in fees. The 800k from Asda will be spent on improving the greenspace/park area and deliver a wide range of community public realm with minimum disruption.”
At the moment there has been no design brief set down for the area, however it is expected that the landscaping and improvements will follow the architectural cues that the new sports centre development, Council building and ASDA will follow, uniformly uniting the Main Street.
Barrhead Main Street could become a modern, and bustling public space.
Now it has been revealed that ASDA and the Council are deep in discussions over how to best invest ASDA’s cash into the regeneration plans.
Several idea have been muted for the public square including a children’s play park and even the relocation of the town’s cenotaph from the Cowan Park, and even a farmers market, which has been missing form the town for a number of months.
ASDA have revealed little about what has been set in stone at the moment, but everything from flower gardens, hanging baskets and plant life to ground murals and even water features are possibly being considered.
Lisa Rooke, and ASDA spokesperson said: “As part of our proposed 20 million investment in Barrhead, 800,000 would be used to integrate the store with the town centre and create a range of public space improvements. This would include a large public square at the front of the store, creating a thorough fare to the town centre, which could be a prime location for community events.
“At this stage we have outlined our initial proposals for the site, but these are part of an ongoing discussion with East Renfrewshire Council and the local community. This is part of a wider programme of regeneration for Barrhead town centre which we believe will bring significant economic benefits to the area”.
This article appeared in Barrhead News 05 Sep 12
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