Alcoholic beverages company Diageo has pledged £2 million towards a major regeneration project at its former bottling plant in East Ayrshire.

Klin Group is proposing to redevelop the facility in Kilmarnock to create the new 'HALO' Urban Park.

Features include creating:

• A Resilience Capability Business Centre for digital and online resilience businesses.

• An enterprise, engineering, manufacturing and textiles centre for SMEs.

• A 1,000-capacity education, conference and exhibition centre.

• A cultural hub for small creative businesses and social enterprises in crafts, film, art, music, media, literature, marketing and technology.

• A year-round leisure and water sports facility.

• 3,000m2 of commercial offices.

• Health & wellbeing premises, life-style shops and cafes.

• Landscaped public plaza.

• 175 'affordable' rented houses.

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• An energy centre powering a district heating system.

• Public space including new road and footpath networks connecting to the Rail Station and town centre.

• Around 1,000 sustainable jobs

Diageo has also gifted 23 acres of land towards the scheme, which received £2m of support from East Ayshire Council today, 28 September.

The donated land is subject to the project meeting certain economic and community benefit goals and securing financial backing from central government.

The council is now looking for a further £10m of financial support for the scheme from the Scottish and UK Governments through the Ayrshire Growth Deal. The scheme is one of a number of economic regeneration projects the local authority is putting forward, alongside North and South Ayrshire Councils, for funding totalling £359m through the Ayrshire Growth Deal.

David Cutter, President of Global Supply & Procurement, Diageo said: "We are delighted to partner with East Ayrshire Council to support this regeneration proposal for Kilmarnock. Our ambition has always been to see this site redeveloped to the benefit of the local economy and community.

"Alongside the new college campus which is due to open soon at the site, we believe this regeneration plan will create a positive legacy for Kilmarnock and we hope it will gain the necessary support from the Ayrshire Growth Deal to make it a reality."

Council Leader Douglas Reid added: "These proposals are a key element of East Ayrshire Council's ambitions for the Ayrshire Growth Deal and will greatly contribute to the regeneration of Kilmarnock, breathing new life into the remainder of the site previously occupied by the Johnnie Walker bottling plant."

(LM)