Work is set to get underway to create temporary additional car parking in Gourock town centre.

Inverclyde Council in partnership with regeneration company Riverside Inverclyde (ri) will create extra car parking spaces as part of a package of work in advance of the main investment proposals, which are still being finalised, that could see as much as £4.7 million invested in the Gourock Pierhead area.

Regeneration Convener Councillor Ronnie Ahlfeld said: "We are determined to press ahead with our plans to develop Gourock town centre and to give local people and visitors the town centre they deserve. There is so much potential in Gourock and we are determined to deliver all that it has to offer. We have learned the lessons of the past and believe we are following the right path for the future for Gourock. Funding is committed for every option and at long last we can move forward."

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47 extra car parking spaces will be created on the site to the south of the Network Rail station just off Shore Street.

Subject to planning permission, the advance works will begin on site in the middle of April 2012. Following two publicly advertised consultations in August and December 2011 a detailed planning application is due to be submitted in Spring 2012 which will include a significant investment in the public realm around the existing Network Rail Car Park and Pierhead area, increased car parking capacity and the proposal of a new relief road to help alleviate traffic congestion on Kempock Street.

(GK)