Deal will be biggest change for 100 years

Last month North Lanarkshire Council became the first organisation to receive permission to submit a revised business case to the Glasgow City Region Programme Liaison Group.

Having had its Pan Lanarkshire Orbital Transport Corridor project accepted, the council now wishes to include the development of Ravenscraig and the wider Motherwell area transport links.

Council deputy leader and Motherwell West councillor Paul Kelly called it the ‘biggest change inn Motherwell in the last 100 years’.

He said: “Over the last year the council has really prioritised Ravenscraig, based on the fact that nothing was happening so we felt we needed to push it on. We held a consultation to ensure the public’s opinion was fed into any future masterplan, which we gave to Ravenscraig Ltd, and at the same time committed £1.7 million to create a park area outside the sports centre.

“My opinion, and also the council’s, is that there can’t be housing from top to bottom on the site and we have been looking at ways to ensure that doesn’t happen.

“We had previously submitted transport plans for North Lanarkshire to City Deal, but have now told them we would like the development of Ravenscraig and the wider Motherwell area transport links to be part of it.

“At the start of March City Deal agreed to this which I think makes us the first people to change our proposal.

“This means that the rest of Motherwell can be looked at in terms of changing the roads and the likes of redeveloping Motherwell Station.

“It is going to bring a lot of housing and a lot of jobs to the area, and for the first time since the steelworks closed this is thanks to Ravenscraig.

“Ravenscraig has never truly been a priority, but now we want it to become part of Motherwell.

“For too long a new town was seen as a threat, but the previous model dead, we want it to compliment the town.

“The council has extremely radical plans for the town centre as well, we want to change their very nature in order to modernise town centres.

“We’ve talked a lot about Motherwell town centre over the past 20 years, with very little happening, but I think it is now time for change and what I’m sure will be the biggest change in Motherwell in the last 100 years.

“Of course both it and Ravenscraig will require major investment, but that is where City Deal comes in.”