Thought we should have a Ravenscraig thread given the vastness of the plan. Building is due to start it seems. 1100 acres, 13 times the size of Canary Wharf, over a million sq ft of office space, over a million sq ft of industrial space, 620'000 sq ft retail space, thousands and thousands of homes, colleges, indoor athletics facilities. A new town basically.

From the Herald :

Ravenscraig reborn




By Julia Fields



Jim Fitzsimons has an entire town in his head. For the past six years, he has ruminated on the patterns of the tree-lined streets, the break-out spaces for public gatherings, the best position for the college campus, the library and the schools. He has chosen his preferred designs for street lamps, park benches and even the rubbish bins, all of which are jammed into a thick binder on his desk. He has investigated whether the entire community could be powered by a biomass plant and calculated the cost of having every home kitted out with wireless capabilities.
“This development is so big that we can think on a different plane,” Fitzsimons emphasises over and over, as we bump along in his sports utility vehicle on the roads now cutting their way through the former steelworks site at Ravenscraig. Before us, the awesome scale of these dreams stretch out into fields and forests for as far as the eye can see.

Fitzsimons, development director (Scotland) for Wilson Bowden Developments, along with partners Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire and Corus (formerly British Steel) have been waiting for what feels like an eternity to forge a new future on this 1100-acre site bordered by the towns of Motherwell and Wishaw.

And now their plans are finally moving forward.

It may have appeared like just another small victory in the never- ending legal battle that has dogged and delayed the £1 billion regeneration of Ravenscraig, which is expected to become home to 10,000 people within the next 20 years. But for Fitzsimons and his partners, a judge’s decision a week ago to uphold outline planning permission was the last obstacle standing in the way of creating what will effectively become the first new Scottish town in decades.

A legal shadow still remains. Land Securities – the property developer which has steadfastly railed against Scottish ministers’ decision to give Ravenscraig town centre status – is still awaiting the decision from its appeal to the House of Lords which will be heard next July. But Wilson Bowden, Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire and Corus have decided to move ahead with their plans regardless.

“They have the ability to keep just delaying, delaying, delaying,” explains Fitzsimons. “We’re just going ahead, putting in our plans for the first phase of housing. They will probably keep challenging. That’s just something we will have to live with.”

At the moment, Corus is the sole shareholder in the company, Ravens craig Partnership, which is overseeing the rejuvenation of an area that is 13 times the size of London’s Canary Wharf.

But within weeks, shares will be transferred to Wilson Bowden and SE Lanarkshire. From that day forward, the three partners will own the site. Wilson Bowden is now gearing up for the labour ahead, moving offices and taking on more staff next month. This is a career-defining project for Fitzsimons and a potentially lucrative money- spinner for his employer.

Wilson Bowden, which is head quartered in Leicestershire, could make in excess of £50 million in profits over the next 20 years through a combination of commercial development and residential construction. Its housebuilding division, David Wilson Homes, is expected to build at least half of the 3500 family residences and apartments. The company could make “substantially more” if it develops the town centre – a pedestrianised street lined with an array of retailers and leisure operators promising ‘shoppertainment’ – rather than farming out the task to another company to take forward.

Work is expected to begin in early 2006 to level out the land and install services into the northern section to support the first phase of 800 houses. Designs for a £20m Sports Scotland facility are being drawn up. The building will have a full-size football pitch capable of holding Uefa matches, indoor athletic facilities and badminton courts, among other activities available for the local community. It is likely that the biggest users of the Sports Scotland facility will be the thousands of students expected to attend the new Motherwell College campus, which will also be built at Ravenscraig.

Forging ahead may appear to some observers to be a circumvention of the planning system and its various opportunities for appeal. It also comes with some risk. What happens if the House of Lords rules in favour of Land Securities a year from now and town centre status is deemed inappropriate?

By that time, Wilson Bowden will have already prepared the northern section of the site for the first phase of housing to come out of the ground by the end of 2006. The Ravenscraig Partnership will have entered negotiations or even agreements to sell land to housebuilders. It will have already put in for planning consent for Motherwell College’s new campus and the Sports Scotland facility – both of which have ambitions to be open by 2007-2008 at the latest.

“We believe that the decision will be made before we break ground for the housing,” says Fitzsimons, adding that none of their partners are concerned about going forward. “This has been the most comprehensive public consultation ever. It has gone through all of the planning channels. It has been to court three times. It’s been 12 years in the making. There’s so much support and it’s so critical to the regeneration of North Lanarkshire.”

The reality is that the Ravenscraig Partnership cannot afford to wait any longer. “Sports Scotland will only wait a certain amount of time,” Fitzsimons admits. “Motherwell College is competing against others to get new facilities. It’s not a bottomless pit. They’ve done well to get funding, but unless we can get this thing going, we can’t commit to projects like this,” he says. “We’ve got this challenge hanging over us, which we think won’t be successful, but it’s stopping the town centre which is driving things like Sports Scotland and the college. It’s the town centre-linked projects that we are in danger of losing.”

The delays have already had repercussions. Mills Corporation, an American shopping centre developer, originally hoped to build an indoor ski slope as a major attraction for the town centre. But as time marched on, Braehead shopping centre got there first. Mills still appears to be interested in bringing its brand of “shoppertainment” to Ravenscraig, but it will now have to take a different form. Over the years, Glasgow Fort and a planned shopping scheme in Pollok have also come onto the scene; undoubtedly making the future attraction of tenants more difficult for Ravenscraig.

Nevertheless, the fact that Scottish Enterprise and Scottish ministers are supporting this push forward baffles Land Securities, which has a Scottish property portfolio worth more than £1bn and with its joint venture partner British Land owns a major chunk of East Kilbride town centre – just a 25-minute drive away from Ravenscraig.

Britain’s two largest property companies are determined to block an amendment that was made to the Clyde Valley structure plan, giving Ravenscraig town centre status and the ability to build a million square feet of retail and leisure space. Their legal argument, which they are confident will succeed in the House of Lords, continues to be that this decision flies in the face of national planning policy to protect existing town centres from being ravished by large out-of-town- retail developments.

“We believe it is absurd to give an unbuilt town the same status as an existing town centre,” says David Smith, regional director of Land Securities. “We make decisions on where to invest on the basis of these rules. When someone says a town centre should be afforded protection, you have to make sure they follow through with that.”

Smith sees little need for the regeneration of Ravenscraig – 5% of the total brownfield land in Scotland – save for providing land for more housing. He argues that Hamilton, Wishaw and particularly Motherwell will be decimated by the beast forming on its front doorstep and just as these towns appear to be rebounding from the loss of their traditional industries.

Interestingly, the statistics suggest that the area has recovered in many ways from the closure of steel works and other businesses in the early nineties. The number of unemployment claimants in North Lanarkshire has dropped from 17,924 in 1993 to 6131 in 2005. Average gross pay for those living in Motherwell and Wishaw is £422.48 per week, compared to the Scottish average of £427. (The latest figures available are for 2002.)




North Lanarkshire Council has always argued that Ravenscraig would lift up the neighbouring towns by providing 12,000 jobs – many of which will be with companies that locate in the more than million square feet of office space and a further million square feet of industrial space to be built on the site. Could it be that the regeneration of Ravenscraig – a project that has been inching its way through the planning system since 1994 – is no longer necessary?

A council spokesperson says that many people left the region after employment opportunities dried up. Ravenscraig is expected to increase the local tax base by £28m a year. It is also expected to claw back some of the £250m spent by North Lanarkshire residents in other areas like Glasgow and East Kilbride. A report in 2002 prepared for North Lanarkshire Council, however, also estimated that Ravenscraig could impact retail sales by 31% in North Lanarkshire and 16.7% in South Lanarkshire.

“Ravenscraig is about bringing jobs to the area, improving sports and other public facilities and it will encourage people to move here because there will be brand new housing available. It’s win, win, win,” the council spokesman insists.

Wilson Bowden has also agreed to contribute “millions of pounds” to improve the main shopping boulevard of Motherwell town centre; to pay for improvements to the area’s high schools and playing fields; to pay for half of the Sports Scotland facility; and to allocate funds and land for two new primary schools within Ravenscraig.

“If you drive along the A8, there’s no sign for Motherwell. That’s a community of 60,000 people,” Fitzsimons adds. “It’s a backwater and that’s what we want to change. We want to lift Motherwell up as well as Ravenscraig.”

The shopping and leisure aspect of the project, he says, is a means to a greater end. Whoever develops that aspect of the town centre – Mills Corporation is currently a front-runner – will pay premium dosh for the privilege. That money will help pay for the vast amount of infrastructure improvements that is needed for everything else.

He also argues that the retailers and leisure operators will offer a type of shopping that’s currently not available in the area and draw residents and companies to the site. The emphasis will be on attracting, for example, sports retailers that have climbing walls or basketball courts, showcase outlets for manufacturers like Sony or specialist food or utensil shops that have in-store cooking schools.

These are all old arguments and ones that have been rehashed over and over since Wilson Bowden was named preferred developer way back in 1998. You get a sense from Fitzsimons and Murray Collins, the project manager for SE Lanarkshire, that they would like to just get on with creating something spectacular to silence their critics once and for all.

Collins, who has been pushing Ravenscraig forward for nine years, is inundated by visitors from the Czech Republic, Poland, and other former Eastern Bloc countries looking for ways to regenerate stretches of industrial wasteland. “Outside our shores, this is seen as a real model because it is quite innovative,” he insists. “The traditional solution to these kind of sites was the public sector would buy the site for a £1 and deal with all the contamination and infrastructure itself. What’s really different here is the involvement of the three of us – the landowner, Scottish Enterprise and Wilson Bowden.”

Corus has spent £25m to decontaminate and clean up the site, while a further £20m has been contributed by Scottish Enterprise and European funding to build a spine road and prepare sections for development. There is little evidence left of the site’s industrial heritage, just tree-dotted fields and hills. More than half of the 1100 acres will remain parkland.

But it is the other half of the development that has occupied the mind of Fitzsimons for so many years. In his opinion, Ravenscraig has the potential to be the best in class of brownfield regeneration with the latest technologies available in the business parks and the homes.

“Why not have it so you can go to your TV and find out what’s on at the sports arena or book a table at a restaurant in the town centre or find out when the next bus will be at the corner,” he says. “We’re looking at the possibility of getting every housebuilder to create wireless rooms in their houses.”

The use of biomass as an energy source was deemed too expensive but Wilson Bowden is drawing up a framework with its partners that would require builders to incorporate environmental efficiencies into every home.

The business park, he vows, will also have the fastest broadband. “I want to know what the next thing beyond broadband is and put that in,” he says getting a little carried away.

For years, the battles have focused entirely on 620,000 square feet of retail and its potential harmful effects. But those behind the Ravenscraig Partnership believe the opportunity has finally come to show the world that this is about more than just shops. This is about putting North Lanarkshire on the map.

“If Ravenscraig doesn’t have an impact on the surrounding region,” says Fitzsimons, “then it will have failed.”

28 August 2005

I know this is totally out of place, but since this is the other thread dealing with a large-scale almost-from-scratch development I'll post it here.

Whatever happened to the thread that was started about somewhere north of Glasgow being turned into a gigantic freight port? It sounded like a great development, and certainly one that would have been fantastic for Glasgow and Scotland as a whole. I'm guessing it got lost during the hack, but it also didn't seem to get anywhere beyond the first few replies anyway. I take it that this means it's not going to happen?

I dont know anything about that but I'm wanting to know what the latest news on Hunterston and Orkney are - are we getting these big developments?

Can you imagine what it would have done for Glasgow if Hunterston was turned into one of the worlds major ports and a Central Scotland Airport had been given the go ahead. :(

http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/ravenscraig-largeplan.jpg

Scottish Enterprise: Ravenscraig (http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/sedotcom_home/services-to-the-community/stc-keyprojects/lanarkshireregeneration/ravenscraig.htm)

http://www.ravenscraig.co.uk/

Don't think we've heard anything more about Hunterston, JSweeneys your man for that.

I dont know why, but a working steelworks seemed so much more worthwhile. I suppose the past is the past...

Hunterston, that's what I was talking about! So there's been no more news about it, positive or negative?

I hope we're not getting a Cumbernauld II. Roundabouts galore, iconic town centre ... :ohno:

I hope we're not getting a Cumbernauld II. Roundabouts galore, iconic town centre ... :ohno:
A good point - surely not again?

I know there's a big legal kerfuffle on this but that area is a sprawling suburban hell already. Rather argue this will further "subarbanise" the area I'd have thought it could well urbanise it.

Obviously the masterplan has serious failings, arcane traffic management (the roundabouts are actually already there), extreme low density housing and business units on the fringe of the "town centre"... but it has much to commend too, Plans incorporate a 10,000 seater arena, multiplex cinema, church, schools, nature reserve, transport interchange via a Wishaw spur line and an indoor ski centre. I think rather than dismiss out of hand, better engage with the developer to correct these failings.

It's unrealistic to turn this down on grounds it'll exacerbate sprawl, were it to I would turn it down. It won't. Rather we'd have a continuation of what's occurring already ie piecemeal ad hoc sprawl around the fringes of Motherwell and Wishaw. Despite the glaring design flaws of the (early) masterplan, this is infinitely superior. I agree and appreciate that redevelopment of the existing town centres is much preferable but in the real world Motherwell/Wishaw will never raise £1 billion of private investment. In any case if Ravenscraig boosts the desireability of the area then Motherwell and Wishaw will become more desireable by default.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/gleegieboy/Ravenscraig_drawings.jpg

Hey, I can see my house on the masterplan image.

Don't get me started on Motherwell town centre......

I was (very briefly) involved in this project last summer, mapping out current & potential power line routes through the site. At that time there were very few details on the project itself... it's great to finally see some images of what it will actually look like.

Here's hoping we avoid another what's it called... Cumbernauld! (sorry, couldn't resist! :-D)

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/73005.html#

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/72974.html

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/72976.html

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/72977.html

And this is the image that was in the Herald today

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/maccoinnich/ravenscraigcopy.jpg

It's funny, we've been talking about New Urbanism all day in the office. When you see something as bad as this, new urbanism begins to seem so much better.

It's North Lanarkshire Council, so it's going to end up being utter sh*te. They couldn't have vision if they dropped tabs of LSD.

Where are 10,000 people supposed to appear from?

Scotland is not building homes nearly fast enough for demand. They wont have any problems finding people.

Falling population, more houses. That must be either a serious waste or a social disaster. Probably both...

Changing social makeup. People get married later, family sizes are smaller (ie same population, but made up of fewer families), higher divorce rates than previously, etc. Basically you need more houses for the same number of people.

Don't forget migration....

I did a wee bit of work on this a couple of years back... can't believe it's only gotten this far in that time. The sitehas got some real assets in there (the big hill, a stream/river, a railway line)... I just hope they make the most of them. Those roundabouts remind a bit too much of the 'C' town though... :-S

Oh it is the 'C' town, just gone all 'upper-middle-class'...

Why do North Lanarkshire Council decide to spend so much Money on what is basically a new town when the ones they already have are shit for example they build a brand new state of the Art Town Centre when all they do is build a crappy Shed at Cumbernauld. It is like as a news paper put it NLC has Favouritism for Motherwell and Airdrie, whilst they leave the area of Cumbernauld, Moodiesburn, Kilsyth etc.:bash:

Now I'm not praising North Lanarkshire council or anything, but I'm pretty sure the bulk, if all not, of the funding for this is coming from private sources.

I think that's true, but nonetheless, that's a very interesting point he's made.. with the correct mix of incentives and CPOs used, the council could have targetted this investment into the existing built fabric. I appreciate that's easier said than done, but now that the opportunity has been missed, can anyone honestly say that they think things will get better for Cumbernauld, Wishaw, Motherwell, etc in the near future? Especially now that Ravenscraig will be the 'in place' in the area?

I think the whole project is ridiculous, and that it will be bad for the wider area. I was trying to say criticism where criticism is due.

You make a good point, but it certainly would be a lot more difficult to channel investment where it is less obvious how to make money. Whichever developer is involved wont have a 'North Lanarkshire' budget that they are just going to spent there, in one place or another.

Cala have recently bought 'Motherwell Town Centre' since the Council and the previous owners obviously didn't have the vision or competence required to make anything of it. There was an absolutely atrocious new build scheme about 10 years ago that houses Woolworths but otherwise investment has been sadly lacking for about 25 years, unless you can count regular maintenance of the pedestrian subways....

Not forgetting the new Asda store of course -nice capital receipt there for NLC from a sports pitch - and rip what heart was left out of the town centre, being as the new site is on the periphery and entirely detached from the retail core. You would think these eejits would have learned their lesson - Cumbernauld anyone?

While Cala have to be applauded given the imminent start on the works at Ravenscraig, and they obviously believe that there is money to be made, the downside is I believe they have appointed Keppies. Another Antoinine Centre would be a real disaster.....

Meanwhile, the Council no doubt will continue to flog what other assets they have for a quick buck for more glamorous 'retail sheds' which they believe to be the answer to all their woes. Narrow minded, short sighted and incompetent. The Councillors are even worse.

Massive regeneration @ Ravenscraig. :)

Herald (http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1363223.0.0.php)

Forging a future from the old ashes

IT promises to be Scotland's first new town in more than 50 years, literally rising from the ashes of the industrial past. For almost two decades, the former steelworks at Ravenscraig have been a septic sore on Lanarkshire's landscape, a sprawling acreage of derelict and contaminated land.

Now touted as the biggest single regeneration project in Scotland, £1bn is expected to be poured into the scheme in the next two decades, creating 10,000 jobs, one million square feet of shopping space, a new transport system, schools, parkland and sports facilities. A college to replace Motherwell College has been given planning permission for the site and is expected to be completed by summer 2009.

It is a story being replicated across industrial Scotland. The lingering hangover from a century as the Empire's engineroom, from the physical damage to the social fall-out of industrial decline, is being prescribed a potential resolution.

Ravescraig (http://www.ravenscraig.co.uk/introduction.html) website. :)

It is good for regeneration but still I believe that it is a waste of Time and Money. £1billion for that, thats crap. Another example of a New Town, and well you know how they all ended up, *hint* Cumbernauld, East Kilbride etc.

ET (http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1456928.0.its_a_steel_at_29m.php)

It's a steel at £29m

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/_images/db/54/96/080607nravens1.549690.full.jpg http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/_images/db/54/96/080607nravens2.549691.full.jpg

*replying to the duplicate thread*

Imagine if £1billion was spent on Motherwell Town Centre as opposed to this which will kill Motherwell Town Centre hrm.... Im not a fan.

It's total rubbish.

NLC couldn't manage to get drunk in a brewery, their planners couldn't recognise good design if it slapped them in the face and their property department is just plain pathetic. As for the local councillors who are supposed to accountable? Pathetic. Local government and democracy? Forget it.

The Regional Sports Centre has risen from £16m to £29m and it still look crap/the same/a slug despite a 181% increase in budget.

Motherwell, Hamilton, Wishaw, Bellshill, Coatbridge and Airdrie are just some of the towns that are going to suffer as a result of this development. The Council seem to think that refurbishing underpasses and laying new block pavours in the pedestrian precincts (that allow cars to go hurtling through them) will prevent them from falling apart....

Instead of building a huge new sports centre that'll cost a fortune for a relatively small population that the development will have once complete is nonsense. In Cumbernauld we have only 1 crappy sports centre built in the 1970's for a town of more than 50,000 and expanding. NLC should look carefully into how they spend their money.

Also spot on about the underpasses being refurbished, except in Cumbernauld the locals have to raise their own money and then apply to the council to do so. Thats basically about all NLC do. If it is not seen as profit making then they will not persue it.:nuts:

The Ravenscraig web site has had a major update, with lots of images I won't post again, for fear of draining the inspiration out of everyone. Tree lined dystopian nightmare anyone?

How does a shopping centre qualify as a 'town centre' ? Surely it is missing all the requisite characteristics, not least that of public space?

http://www.ravenscraig.co.uk/

The opportunity for a contemporary, examplar scheme has been missed if the images of the David Wilson Homes standard product are anything to go by.

Our last best hope is the BDP scheme for Motherwell College I fear.

Did a quick calculation on the density of the scheme which should give a good idea of the success of an area. As a basis in Richards Rogers report on Urban planning and in his book "Cities for a Small Country" he recommends a minimum of 135 homes per hectare for a successful communitiy, for example a tenemental area in the west end is about this figure. Drawing on the information of areas and housing figures on the Ravenscraig site I calculate it to have a density of...7 homes per hectare.
Go Figure?

Its not a community, its someone's idea of one. Some homes, a shopping centre, sports facilities and a primary school just to make sure does not a community make. Affordable homes anyone?

At least Page/Park would have included a Boules pitch.

Too true Momus, looks to me like a set from the Truman show! They should be spending money on transforming the existing towns in NL into places that someone might actually want to live...

I don't dispute the idea that NLC would have been a good deal wiser doing something with their current towns to make them a bit more pleasant to live in (ever been to Stepps, Twechar, Croy, Moodiesburn? - all places that joy forgot). But I'm a little taken aback at the dismay shown by some posters at what amounts to a new suburban area being built and the suggestion that it won't be a successful community. I'd like to know what a successful community is and what its features are aside from higher housing densities. I concede that the street plans look a bit stick and lollipop in the style of the blandest American urban sprawl but the scale here is so much smaller than over there where you might have to drive for 10 mins to a shop and don't even attempt to walk - this doesn't look too bad from that point of view. I do endorse the criticism of the Town Centre shopping centre - in what way is that meant to be public space?

I grew up in a planned suburb, in many respects not dissimilar to the Ravenscraig proposal and looking back I always felt part of a community - we knew all our neighbours, we were part of local organisations, met friends outside the local shops, went to the primary school that was built at the same time as much of the local housing and so on. Most residents still seem to be very happy there. I feel that in the criticism of the Ravenscraig plans there's a suspicion of it just because its new. What would forumers do to improve such a site? Is suburbia always wrong?

No suburbia isn't always wrong but Ravenscraig isn't a masterplan its a zoning diagram. Look at the dendritic road network of the Phase 1 housing layout. A classic sprawl pattern. Also look at the size of some of the public spaces. They are vast! Far far too big to be comfortable and humane in our climate. How are they meant to be animated. And that ring of carparking round the shopping centre. Please! Have we learned nothing from the experience of the 1960's?

If you are attempting urban design at least think long term. What happens to this with Peak Oil, climate change etc on the event horizon? Will Ravenscraig be able to weather these? How does it adapt or promote walkability, mixed use, or integrated neighbourhoods when faced with these seismic shifts? It seems that resources are being mobilised to build something that you can already see is going to have to be retrofitted in order for it to be viable or its not going to be sustainable i.e. more resources will have to be found to get it to work.

Sorry I can't help thinking we are building a mistake. Scotland is a small country. We can't afford to be squandering capital like this.

At least CABE are more enlightened....

http://www.cabe.org.uk/AssetLibrary/10661.pdf (Sustainable design, climate change and the built environment)

To pick up on an earlier point, if equivalent investment (even if only in retail terms) were directed towards Motherwell for example, an established retail and town centre destination, then a more strategic and fundamental redevelopment scenario would have been possible. Outwith the rather lame early 70's shopping precint, which suffers the scars of some truly awful 80's, 90's and a more recent Asda scheme, there is substantial scope for a company of vision (not the Council then) to really make a difference. The main ring road (incomplete from a previous Council excursion I might add) around the town centre is bounded on its external periphery by a number of sites that could have easily been integrated into a collective whole, providing a truly mixed use and more sustainable development.

Easy access to the M74, main London to Glasgow railway line as well as Edinburgh (ok I know Ravenscraig is as well but that requires a new station) while Motherwell train station has suffered from lack of investment for years.

Redevelopment of the town could have included an upgraded and enhanced roads system - one that is already bursting at the seams before Ravencraig phase 1 is even complete so the town will be at a standstill.....

All in all, short sighted political expediency. Yes the loss of Ravenscraig and all the associated jobs was tragic, but the country and the economy moves on. This is not the answer.

Ravenscraig college work starts

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44269000/jpg/_44269266_motherwellcollege203.jpg

The new college is due for completion in summer 2009
Work is expected to get under way later on a new state-of-the-art college campus on the site of the former Ravenscraig steelworks.
A special ceremony will mark the cutting of the first turf at the new Motherwell College development.

It will form part of a £1.2bn transformation of the 1,100 acre site in North Lanarkshire.

Phase one of the regeneration project will also see 800 new homes built, and a £29m regional sports facility.

The new college will cost £70m and is due for completion by summer 2009.

It will include a five-storey teaching block, a residential building for up to 50 students and workshop block for engineering students.

The residential building has been created in a cylindrical design to reflect the former Ravenscraig steelworks structure and a plaza in the centre will provide space for students to meet.

Motherwell College is at the heart of the community and we are part of the regeneration of that community

Hugh Logan
Motherwell College Principal

A pedestrian link will connect the buildings.

College principal Hugh Logan said: "The new college at Ravenscraig will have the most modern of facilities and will provide the best quality of education in Lanarkshire.

"Motherwell College is at the heart of the community and we are part of the regeneration of that community."

The further education institution currently attracts 20,000 students a year from more than 40 countries.

It is among a number of universities and colleges across Scotland that recently benefited from an extra £100m funding package from the Scottish Government.

Students can opt for courses including sport, social sciences, engineering and beauty therapy.

Ravenscraig Steel Works closed in 1992. The famous blue and white towers were demolished four years later.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7117115.stm

Anyone know when the first houses are going on sale at Ravenscraig?

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1881321.0.1_2bn_plan_in_doubt_at_ravenscraig.php

Hopefully the retail element at least will bite the dust.

well the first of the houses are on hold because of health and safety its quite near to the B.O.C plant and i hope they get less houses in the roads are just too busy i have to get up early because of the amount of housing going up you do not have to live near to it .

when are the new plans coming out the design just dose not make sense in some parts .

its all a piece of p*sh....

CONCERNS OVER GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TO RAVENSCRAIG

21 April 2008

http://www.scottishconstructionnews.com/scottish/enews/images/Ravencraig%20town%20centre.gif

North Lanarkshire councillors have questioned the Scottish Government's commitment to the £1.2bn redevelopment of Ravenscraig.

The fears were expressed in a response to the government's national planning framework. The council said it was concerned the development at the former steel works was getting less recognition than other projects. However, a government spokesman said Ravenscraig was a key economic priority.

Local authorities were invited to submit their responses to the national planning framework, which sets out the government's strategy for development in Scotland until 2025. The consultation closed earlier last week.

A report by North Lanarkshire Council said it welcomed the government's commitment to fostering links between Glasgow and Edinburgh and the surrounding areas, but was concerned about Ravenscraig.

It said: "There are concerns that the national planning framework does not give sufficient recognition to the Ravenscraig, Motherwell, Wishaw initiative, particularly in comparison to the emphasis given elsewhere, most notably the Clyde Gateway."

Fears were also expressed about how the framework would influence future investment in the project. But a government spokesman said Ravenscraig was a priority.

He said: "The draft national planning framework recognises that Ravenscraig is a key location for regeneration in North Lanarkshire which can provide new economic opportunities and improve the quality of the Lanarkshire environment."

Jim Fitzsimons, director at Ravenscraig Ltd, said: "A project of this size and complexity requires significant private and public sector investment in order to realise its potential. Attracting this investment will become increasingly difficult if Ravenscraig is not given the same level of recognition as other major development initiatives and is not dealt with in a consistent manner over the course of its development.”


Relevant Links:

www.ravenscraig.co.uk

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The photos are of motherwell collage more to come .

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The last one isn't great.

Ian Hamilton Finlay eat your heart out. From the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7629489.stm):


Town development is work of art

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45040000/jpg/_45040286_ranvesart226.jpg
The 'r' was created with red aggregate from a Lanark quarry

A huge red letter 'r' the size of 10 football pitches has been unveiled at the site of the former Ravenscraig steelworks in Motherwell.

It is part of the ongoing redevelopment of the area and marks where the new town centre will be built.

The artwork depicts Ravenscraig's corporate logo and can be seen on the London to Glasgow flight path.

The installation was made from 2,000 tonnes of red aggregate from Cloburn Quarry in Lanark.

The aggregate will subsequently be used in a later construction phase.

The project is part of an ongoing programme of public art incorporated into the £1.2bn development, and is aimed at promoting the Ravenscraig brand.

Murray Collins, of Capella Group, which is managing the Ravenscraig project, said: "The popularity of web-based satellite maps such as Google Earth has led to the growing phenomena of 'earth art' like the big 'r'."

Potential investors

He added: "As well as demonstrating the ambition and confidence behind the redevelopment of the site, this project serves a serious purpose in signposting potential investors and partners towards Ravenscraig.

"There is nothing else like this in Scotland, which reflects the unique nature of the entire Ravenscraig initiative."

Once completed, the new town centre for Ravenscraig will feature around 1 million sq ft of retail, leisure, restaurant and community facilities.

The former steelworks site will become home to more than 10,000 people, is expected to create 12,000 jobs and attract in excess of £1.2bn of private sector investment over the next 15 to 20 years.

Work is already well under way on the £200m first phase of the redevelopment of the 1,100 acre site, with a £30m regional sports facility, a £70m campus for Motherwell College and 850 new houses now under construction.

is it 'r' for "this development is 'rubbish"?

That's fucking crap.

That's fucking crap.

And thats putting it very politely.

Indeed, it just is isn't it?

How delightfully creative.

Allow me to finish:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y124/the_boy_david/_45040286_ranvesart226.jpg

I had an actual lol there TBD.

Glad to be of service, macco :happy:

Rectum? Damn nearly killed 'em!

Apart from the R shape. Ravenscraig is starting to take shape new streets have been built and new fancy street lights with much more. There is also wildlife links with areas set aside for wildlife. There has been a new water plant built for the new town and an up grade in the water quality.

Funding delays threaten Ravenscraig
GERRY BRAIDEN October 06 2008

Delays in handing over £2.8m from the public purse is threatening to derail the transformation of the former Ravenscraig steelworks into Scotland's first new town in a generation.

The Scottish Government's private sector partners in the bid to create 12,000 jobs and 3500 new homes on the brownfield site in Lanarkshire have accused it of dragging its heels over financially committing to the scheme and are warning that the £1.2bn vision is in very real jeopardy.

Civic leaders have also urged the government to signal its intentions over Ravenscraig "in order to allow the development to remain on track".
advertisement

The government said Scottish Enterprise was assessing how to take forward the plans "in light of the credit crunch and market changes". Jim Fitzsimons, who is overseeing the scheme on behalf of Barratt, a partner with the public sector and Corus in Ravenscraig Ltd, said that, since a meeting with Enterprise Minister Jim Mather in mid-May on progressing the second phase of the 20-year project, there has been no movement.

...continues at the Herald (http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2457430.0.Funding_delays_threaten_Ravenscraig.php).

Picture from today part of phase 1 is Motherwell collage due to be opened next year and the old site of Motherwell collage are planning to build houses after they have move in to the new site. The so called Green houses are set to be start work in 2009. And have mainly finished building the new streets.

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You get around, DJ. That must be the first residential built over 5 floors in Motherwell since the last of the municipal housing? Is every college in Clydeside rebuilding at the moment?

Thanks Boards, the building with 7 floors is for people studying at the collage student accommodation. Its quite a large building at the front from other picture a glass front both sides look nice.

I got the train last year down south for the first time in years, I was genuinely surprised at how the area had changed since I was a kid. The 'Craig site is a monster.

Is every college in Clydeside rebuilding at the moment?

Its not restricted to Clydeside Boardsy, or even Scotland. Remember Blair's three top priorities?

Aye true enough.

Tell you what, they're set the architectural bar mighty high with that bute. Aye, this place is going to be a real architectural gem of a town. Just you wait and see...

Before anybody points this out me, I know this is an unfair comparison. But don't you ever think, we can do better than this? I'm posting some images from Virtual Mitchell, of what the University of Glasgow looked like before it upped and moved to the West End. These are buildings that say something about aspiration, education and ambition.

http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/virtualmitchell/image.php?i=14975&r=2&t=4&x=1

http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/virtualmitchell/image.php?i=14991&r=2&t=4&x=1

The new Motherwell buildings say nothing more than fuck off.

I got the train last year down south for the first time in years, I was genuinely surprised at how the area had changed since I was a kid. The 'Craig site is a monster.

Yes its a vast place, I have some photos of Ravenscraig before it was knocked down and also a map. Just to give you a scale the picture is for the new business center.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/djmaxliving/P1010116.jpg

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And Mac i hardly thing Motherwell collage is a crap building if anything I'm surprized by the quality.

Nice one:)

Before anybody points this out me, I know this is an unfair comparison. But don't you ever think, we can do better than this? I'm posting some images from Virtual Mitchell, of what the University of Glasgow looked like before it upped and moved to the West End. These are buildings that say something about aspiration, education and ambition.

The new Motherwell buildings say nothing more than fuck off.

One or two of the new colleges at least have some merit - the new Clydebank college is quite good I think and I quite like the one getting built up in Springburn with the pointy sticky-out bit. At least provides evidence of a wee bit of imagination on the part of the architect. I think you could illustrate your point even more starkly by comparing schools of the 21st century with those built 150 years ago. Consider all the bland lookey-likey PFI refurbs that have sprung up over the last 10 years - joyless, dreary buildings which will look incredibly bad when they become obsolete in 30 years (at which point we'll still be paying for 'em). Gah!

Dude, don't get me started on our new schools. They look more like prisons! Way to inspire the next generation!

And Mac i hardly thing Motherwell collage is a crap building if anything I'm surprized by the quality.

I think you may have a lower threshold for quality than I do. Next time you have a chance, go to Borders on Buchanan Street, and browse through The Architectural Review, Architecture Today or Blueprint. Then come back to me and try to say to me that there is a single building in these that wouldn't be embarrassed to be in the company of the new Motherwell College.

I know I sometimes come across a little whiny on here. And the only reason is because I care. I think Ravenscraig as a whole is going to be dire. I look at the plans, and don't see anything that resembles a street I would enjoy walking down. It isn't good enough for the country whose place making tradition includes the fishbone patterns of towns like Dunbar, and the old town of Edinburgh; the fishing villages of the East Neuk of Fife; or planned villages such as Inverary, Plockton and Grantown on Spey; the grid of Glasgow's city centre and Edinburgh's New Town, and at their respective fringes, Park Circus and Calton Hill.

It isn't even that we don't have good architects working in Scotland today. We do. Tonight, at the Lighthouse, Hugh Pearman, architecture critic for the Sunday Times, talked about how the architectural scene here is the strongest outside of London. Okay, there's an element of how kind of you notice — but he has a point. So, there actually is no excuse for how bad Ravenscraig looks set to be.

This is the first New Town in Scotland for 40-50 years. Who's willing to bet that we will be so scared of repeating the mistake, that it will the last in just as long?

Mate, couldn't agree more. There's just a lack of any sort of ambition beyond doing what has, sadly, become normal. A bunch of massive, maze-like, cookie-cutter housing estates with a few community buildings dotted around to give the title of a town. No effort to put life on the street, bring in innovative architecture and master planning, create a sense of community. It's just a money-spinner, and what annoys me most is that people just lap it up!!!!

The new sports complex. The landscaping around Motherwell collage is poor no seating area around the collage, bins and lighting scheme also rubbish lack of high standard, inside is fine nothing wow but its missing something i do not know what.

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New Funding Announced for Ravenscraig Development


A new funding package has been agreed, which will help identify options for the second phase of the Ravenscraig regeneration project.

Scottish Enterprise, North Lanarkshire Council and Wilson Bowden have agreed to provide £2 million funding, which will go towards the preparation of detailed area planning briefs for the second phase of the project.

The planning briefs will look at options for the development of a new town centre, industrial area and business park on the former steelworks site.

Wilson Bowden, the project’s Master Developer, and Scottish Enterprise will each contribute £800,000 towards the development of the planning briefs with North Lanarkshire Council contributing £400,000.

The area planning briefs are seen as an essential next step in progressing to the second phase of the project and will outline the future costs of the second phase, including the level of public sector funding required.

Liz Connolly, Scottish Enterprise’s operations director for West of Scotland, says: “The completion of the detailed planning briefs will be an important milestone for the project and is an important first step in terms of how we will take forward the options for phase two.

“This is a long term project and as the first phase nears completion, it is important that all partners involved can evaluate progress to date and identify how we can continue to attract private sector interest and investment for the project going forward.

“We are looking forward to continuing to work proactively with Wilson Bowden and Barratt, the Scottish Government and North Lanarkshire Council over the coming months to complete these planning briefs and identify how we can best work together to progress to phase two.”

North Lanarkshire Council leader Jim McCabe said: “We are pleased that this significant step forward has been achieved. Ravenscraig is a hugely important project for both the people of North Lanarkshire and the whole of Scotland and we are determined to drive forward with our partners to ensure that the project continues to be a priority.”

Nick Richardson, managing director of Wilson Bowden: “This is an important step forward but it is only the first of many required in a sequential process to deliver over £80m of infrastructure in the next phase, serving not only Ravenscraig itself but the much wider surrounding conurbation of Motherwell and Wishaw.

“There is a substantial amount of private sector and public sector funding required to deliver this infrastructure following the preparation of detailed planning and infrastructure evaluations and we need to establish how we can potentially deliver this funding before we take the next step.”

More than £80 million has been invested over the past ten years on the former steelworks site, which extends to approximately 1,100 acres on demolition, decontamination and re-servicing works.

This has led to the construction of the Motherwell College campus, a £32-million pound regional sports facility and the preparation of land and development of infrastructure for future private sector development.


www.scottish-enterprise.co.uk

So how many people live there at the moment? What happened to this huge retail element?

Serious Crime Campus Gartcosh


http://www.glasgowarchitecture.co.uk/jpgs/serious_crime_campus_gartcosh_gmad160409_1.jpg

http://www.glasgowarchitecture.co.uk/jpgs/serious_crime_campus_gartcosh_gmad160409_4.jpg

The campus aims to bring together key law enforcement agencies including SCDEA, SPSA Forensic Services (Glasgow), COPFS, SOCA and HMRC, under one roof to allow more effective collaboration in purpose built facilities.

It is hoped that the enhanced profile and remit of the unit, in tandem with new powers contained within the Criminal Justice and Licensing bill, will help tackle the threat posed by organised crime.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "The new offence of directing serious organised crime is aimed at making it easier to convict those who direct crime but distance themselves from the activity on a day to day basis.

"By targeting those people who direct crime, or those, who chose to turn a blind eye to it, and monitoring these crooks financial affairs, we are putting them on notice that this Government, working with the other members of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce is determined to take them on and take them down."

The Scottish Government expects the campus to be operational by late 2011.

From- www.glasgowarchitecture.co.uk/serious_crime_c...


Council to buy Ravenscraig houses as work set for February start


NORTH Lanarkshire Council is to spend over £2 million buying 18 houses at Ravenscraig.

David Wilson Homes Ltd, a Barratt subsidiary, will start work on 59 houses in February and unlike their usual new build properties which have to meet certain specifications on this occasion, the council will be buying "off the shelf".

The original planning consent for the first phase of housing at Ravenscraig specified that of the 252 houses to be build by David Wilson Homes at least 10 per cent had to be 'affordable housing'.

The housing market crash has delayed the development but Clyde Valley Housing Association is in negotiations to purchase 27 of the houses while the council wish 18, leaving only 14 of this initial batch to be sold on the open market.

Part of the money will come from the Scottish Government's New Build Council Housing Fund who are expected to provide £450,000 which will subsidy each house by £25,000.

The rest of the money has been identified within the council's HRA capital resources.

The proposals was approved at a special meeting of the housing and social work services committee

A report to the committee by head of property services Ian Nisbet said: "The redevelopment of the Ravenscraig site is a strategic priority for the council and the progression of the housing development is a key part of its overall regeneration strategy."

From - http://www.motherwelltimes.co.uk/news/Council-to-buy-Ravenscraig-houses.5961141.jp

^^ wasn't the crime campus planned for near Gartcosh?

^^ wasn't the crime campus planned for near Gartcosh?Yes it is planned for Gartcosh but won't be ready now till 2013. Keeps getting pushed back, I won't believe it until I see a brick getting laid! http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/crime-courts/fears-grow-for-future-of-crime-super-campus-amid-recession-1.996184

lol i see the title at the top now.

the reason I asked was, how is it related to ravenscraig?

Is it just me or do the images of this development look unflinchingly bleak? The design seems to be pretty unimaginative. It reminds me of the depressing lingering shots of barren fields in that Wallander program.

Is it just me or do the images of this development look unflinchingly bleak? The design seems to be pretty unimaginative. It reminds me of the depressing lingering shots of barren fields in that Wallander program.

Yeah it does look like gloomy southern Sweden! To be fair the leaden sky and the windy field and those semi-translucent trees make it depressing .. I think the architecture is fine.

I do hope this goes ahead soon. It is a fascinating example of how society is changing: the site of a former steel works becoming a serious crime "campus".

It's also another example of how much of the northern section of Lanarkshire is very slowly, but surely, becoming suburban. If we consider the Euroterminal south of Airdrie and private housing east of Motherwell, on the former Ravenscraig Mill,together with Gartcosh, we can see how an area which was once characterised by heavy industry and adjacent workers' housing, is now becoming indistinguishable from other outer suburbs of Glasgow, such as Renfrew or Clydebank.

Very much so, Lanarkshire is weird now, a total mixture of noddy housing estates and council housing, with the odd (mainly dilapidated) old village centre dotted around. It has been comprehensively ruined over the last 50 years and is now, as you say, just turning into a big suburb - ah well, that's progress for ye.

Very much so, Lanarkshire is weird now, a total mixture of noddy housing estates and council housing, with the odd (mainly dilapidated) old village centre dotted around. It has been comprehensively ruined over the last 50 years and is now, as you say, just turning into a big suburb - ah well, that's progress for ye.

Tut Tut, "mainly dilapitated old village centre" now don't let them here you say that about Uddingston or Bothwell ;)

Argh! I really wish I hadn't dipped into this thread - its set my opinion of modern masterplanning back decades. It's awful!!! When will we learn that what you need is a relatively dense pattern where you can WALK between many of the locations you might reasonably expect to visit on a frequent basis (shops, work etc). The road's - look no pavements - please don't tell me there is a seggregated network of pedestrian and cyclist dark alleys and deserted tree lined muggers paradise avenues>>!!?

I have no idea what the river/stream that appears on the plans is like but it seems the masterplan does everything it possibly can to ignore it!

Work is progressing on the first phase of new housing, no images not much to show yet just some scaffolding.

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Always loved those massive industrial buildings in Motherwell.

Always loved those massive industrial buildings in Motherwell.

Is there any recogniton of the steelworks in the masterplan?

Also, from google maps I can see a railway runs to thru the east of the development - are there plans for a station?

You have to see the first phase of houses they are building = shit. They are trying to squeez in too many houses an example is on Chapelknowe Rd there is just about a 1 meter cap between the road and the houses, i can see a B.O.C truck hitting into the new houses :bash:.



New homes to be built on empty Motherwell land


http://files.stv.tv/img/stvlocal/usernews/410x232/565-new-homes-to-be-built-on-empty-motherwell-land1.jpg
A housing firm is set to construct 43 family homes in the town.

Redrow Homes bought a nine-and-a-half acre portion of the empty former Ravenscraig site and its planning application for the first phase of four and five bedroom houses has been approved by North Lanarkshire Council.

The site is at the south of the site, close to the Craigneuk estate and Motherwell College.

Once completed, the site of back and front door homes with garages and gardens will have an estimated value of £14m.

Describing the style of homes to be built at Ravenscraig, Sandy McBride, managing director for Redrow Homes (Scotland), said: “Our New Heritage Collection is perfect for this location, offering a good choice of high quality, traditional family homes adding a new dimension and customer choice which contributes well to the overall redevelopment of this area of Motherwell, including the neighbouring Ravenscraig scheme.”

http://local.stv.tv/motherwell/sport/565-new-homes-to-be-built-on-empty-motherwell-land/

Changing times for ravenscraig.

First couple move into homes built on Ravenscraig site

A couple have become the first people to move into new houses built on the site of the former Ravenscraig steelworks in North Lanarkshire.

Tony and Gina Martin have taken up residence in one of 850 houses being built by David Wilson Homes.

A total of 3,500 houses will eventually occupy the site.

The £1.2bn Ravenscraig regeneration project is one of the biggest in Europe. Once complete it is expected to be home to more than 10,000 people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-12075669

£73m motorway link plan

Evening Times 14th February 2011

Work on a multi-million pound project to link Scotland’s two major motorways and create a new town centre could begin within months.

North Lanarkshire Council has lodged a £73 million business plan which, if approved by the Scottish Government, will allow construction of vital infrastructure to begin on the long-awaited Ravenscraig development.

As part of the Tax Incremental Funding (TIF) scheme lodged with the Scottish Futures Trust, a new seven-mile-long dual carriageway will be built.

The road will stretch from the Chapelhall junction of the M8, between EuroCentral and Newhouse, skirt Carfin and cross the site of the former Ravenscraig steel works to link with Airbles Road and then to the M74.

Should the proposal not be passed, council bosses warn the scheme – that will create 5000 jobs – will not go ahead.

North Lanarkshire Council’s Head of Regeneration Services Maureen McConachie said: “The business case has established that it is a deliverable and realistic proposition.

“Without a TIF scheme, the regeneration of Ravenscraig will not go ahead and the significant economic benefits arising from the project will not be realised.”

Under the TIF scheme, North Lanarkshire Council would be allowed to borrow the cash needed to complete the link.

Business rates raised from the new town centre would be ring-fenced and used to repay the money.

Outline planning permission has already been granted for the works, which will see some existing main roads widened, new dual carriageways built and a new roundabout built near the main entrance to Strathclyde Park.

The Scottish Futures Trust will now draft its recommendations before passing the TIF business plan to the Scottish Government for a decision.

Ms McConachie added: “The importance of this project cannot be underestimated.

“The Ravenscraig development will bring 4500 permanent jobs to Motherwell and Wishaw and at least 500 construction jobs during the six-year building of the town centre.

“If we win approval, work on the road network could be underway as early as next year.

“It is expected to lead to the release up to £425m of private investment and kick start the wider £1.2 billion Ravenscraig scheme.

“This one road opens up vast opportunities for the whole of North Lanarkshire in terms of business, commerce and residential renewal.

“It will relieve a huge traffic bottleneck and put Motherwell and Wishaw firmly back on the map.”

North Lanarkshire Council Leader Jim McCabe added: “We have had positive discussions with the Scottish Government Finance Minister, John Swinney, and we are confident of a successful outcome.”

The first phase of development at Ravenscraig is well under way with the construction of the new £70m Motherwell College campus, opening of the £31m Ravenscraig Regional Sport Facility and completion of the first houses on the site.

The former Ravenscraig steelworks closed in 1992. The redevelopment of the sprawling, brownfield is one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe.

Following the demolition and decontamination of the site, Ravenscraig Ltd was set up by Scottish Enterprise, Corus and Wilson Bowden, to handle the redevelopment.

The project, which is expected to take up to 30 years, will eventually create 12,600 jobs and attracting more than £1.2bn in private sector investment.

The redevelopment will effectively create a small, new town.

However, Phase 2 has stalled as a result of the economic downturn and the significant level of upfront infrastructure investment needed.

TIF funding is already one of the most popular forms of financing infrastructure in the United States and has been used since the 1950s.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/editor-s-picks/73m-motorway-link-plan-1.1085075

As though another bit of dual carriageway would create 5000 jobs...what an embarrassment. As though building roads, on it own, just create jobs. Lanarkshire is covered in trunk roads...what it needs is what all successful areas have...a highly educated workforce living in an ATTRACTIVE area...think Bearsden rather than Cumbernauld!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-12809352

Backing for £73m Ravenscraig financing plan

A £73m plan to redevelop the former Ravenscraig steel works site in North Lanarkshire could be paid for through a new method of public financing.

Scottish ministers have provisionally backed plans to fund the scheme through Tax Incremental Financing.

This will allow North Lanarkshire Council to borrow money against future increases in business rates income.

Phase two of the Ravenscraig scheme includes plans to link the M8 and M74 motorways and create a new town centre.

Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) has been used in many countries outwith the United Kingdom to fund public development projects.

Loan repaid

The Scottish Futures Trust - a body set up by the Scottish government to reduce the cost of funding public projects - has developed TIF for use here.

Under the terms of the North Lanarkshire business case, the council would borrow the finance from the Public Works Loan Board.

It would then be repaid at a future date from projected increases in business rates income resulting from new development.

North Lanarkshire Council leader Jim McCabe said: "The TIF funding will mean the creation of up to 5,000 jobs over the first six years of the project and will allow us to lever in up to £425m in private sector investment.

"That will lead to £1.2bn of investment over the 30-year lifetime of the project with the creation of 12,600 jobs.

"The closure of Ravenscraig steelworks was a hammer blow for North Lanarkshire and Scotland, but this allows us to secure a real and prosperous future for the site and for the area as a whole."

The first phase of development at Ravenscraig is underway with the construction of the new £70m Motherwell College campus, opening of the £31m Ravenscraig Regional Sport Facility and completion of the first houses on the site.

The entire project is expected to take up to 30 years to complete.

TIF Funding Approved for Ravenscraig Redevelopment

Apr 6th 2011

North Lanarkshire Council’s plans to fund a £73million redevelopment at Ravenscraig using Tax Incremental Funding (TIF) have been formally approved by Finance Secretary John Swinney.

TIF will help to pay for the second phase of regeneration at Ravenscraig. Currently, new roads and infrastructure are being put in place to allow for the eventual creation of a new town centre. The site is home to Motherwell College and the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility.

It is thought the project could unlock around £425m in private investment and create up to 4,500 jobs.

Created the US, the concept of TIF is now being explored by Ministers in the UK as a new way of financing infrastructure projects. Scottish Futures Trust has developed TIF for use in Scotland. TIF schemes allow local authorities to use projected revenues from taxes to fund new infrastructure. Business rates from the resulting new developments are used to pay back the loans.

Dr Mark Robertson of Ryden has assisted North Lanarkshire Council in presenting a convincing business case.

He says: “We welcome the Scottish Government's approval of the TIF business case based upon our property market and economic analysis and advice to North Lanarkshire Council and look forward to Phase 2 of this major regeneration project being progressed over the coming years. It has become vital to find new ways to allow for development at this time of budget cuts in Scotland. ”

A business case for TIF funding was provisionally approved for the £84m upgrade to the Edinburgh waterfront last autumn. The Government has also now formally approved this scheme.


Contact for further information: Mark Robertson of Ryden on 0131 225 6612



Source: Ryden

www.ryden.co.uk

Took a quick drive around the new houses / flats being built at the Carfin end of the Ravenscraig plot earlier, and they seem to be nice, pleasant houses, although as with most new estates under construction, they are still mostly awaiting a final and proper road surface, which I assume is last to be completed.

Also, played at the new sports facilty for the first time last week, have to say i'm impressed by what I have seen of it.

Still cannot understand why the dual carriageway sections through the site carry a 30mph speed limit, completely unnecessary, should at least be 40mph.

It can't be, It looks too wired. But this is part of the new masterplan so yea. He can't spell !.

http://hoklife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Ravenscraig-448x293.jpg

I enjoyed working on the design for the Ravenscraig Mall, which is part of a regeneration project on a brownfield site halfway between Glasgow and Edinburg in Scotland

http://hoklife.com/2011/03/01/designer-profile-hok-london-architect-barry-hughes/

Ravenscraig project to progress with £10m for M8 link
BBC News 27th June 2012

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/61176000/jpg/_61176968_-1.jpg

A funding package of £10m which will allow the redevelopment of the former Ravenscraig steelworks in North Lanarkshire to move forward has been approved by the local council.

The money will pay for work to link Scotland's biggest regeneration project with the M8 motorway at Newhouse.

It is 20 years this week since the steelworks were shut down.

The £1.2bn project to transform the site, creating a new town, is expected to take up to 30 years to complete.

Last year North Lanarkshire Council submitted a £73m funding proposal to the Scottish government which would see money for the regeneration of Ravenscraig raised under a scheme known as Tax Incremental Financing (TIF).

It allows cash to be borrowed then repaid at a future date from projected increases in business rates income resulting from new developments on the site.

Provisional approval for this method of funding has been granted, subject to the development and submission of a business case and financial model.

The local authority said final approval would leverage up to £425m of private investment, create up to 4,500 permanent posts and 500 jobs during construction of the new town centre.

The latest £10m of funding announced by the council will pay for tunnelling through a railway embankment, extending a bridge on the A723 between Holytown and Carfin and securing small parcels of land along the A723 required for road widening.

The aim is to create a dual carriageway link to the M8 at Newhouse.

Executive director of environmental services at North Lanarkshire Council, Paul Jukes, said: "There is an element of risk for the council in committing the £10m, but we believe it is necessary.

"To do nothing with such a large site is simply not an option."

Council leader Jim McCabe added: "A lot has happened in the 20 years since Ravenscraig closed, some of it obvious, some less so.

"Much of the land was heavily contaminated and had to be remediated, which took several years.

"A sustainable plan had to be developed and partnerships formed to drive and develop the aim of creating a township."

Councillor McCabe said somewhere in the region of £300m a year "leaves North Lanarkshire to be spent elsewhere".

He said it was vital that the area retained as much of that as possible to help create employment and investment.

The local authority's policy and resources committee has approved the £10m of funding, which will go before the full council at a meeting next week.

The first phase of development at Ravenscraig has seen the construction of a new Motherwell College campus, the opening of the Ravenscraig Regional Sport Facility and completion of the first houses on the site.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-18593735

Oh sweet jesus...

NLC can't manage the towns they have, who thought it was a good idea to let them build another???

If they where smart this would be pretty much a suburb of motherwell and while there at it could build motherwell a new stadium right here.

If they where smart this would be pretty much a suburb of motherwell and while there at it could build motherwell a new stadium right here.

Linking anything to Motherwell is hardly a smart move. The place needs bulldozed from start to finish.