Inverclyde Council has approved a new £4.15 million programme of road improvement works for Inverkip to pave the way for 650 homes and commercial space at the former Inverkip power station site.

Members of the Council's environment and regeneration committee agreed to fresh proposals creating access to the former Inverkip Power Station, which is earmarked for a major housing development, as well as addressing road safety issues.

The Inverkip project is the third of three Glasgow City Region City Deal projects being delivered by the council and has attracted £3.58m of external funding from the UK and Scottish governments.

The local authority will contribute the remaining £570,000.

The infrastructure project seeks to unlock follow-on economic investment in the village through the development of the vacant Inverkip power station.

The council's environment and regeneration committee agreed to proposals that would see:

• Signalised junction Main Street (North) on A78

• Signalised junction Harbourside (Kip Marina) on A78

• Formation of T-junction at Brueacre on the A78 enabling new access to the former Inverkip Power Station site involving partial widening and local re-alignment of the A78 carriageway to tie into the proposed bellmouth site access

Following committee approval, the plans will now be put to the City Deal Cabinet for final approval as part of the final business case.

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Councillor Michael McCormick, Inverclyde Council's convener of environment and regeneration, said: "This is an important milestone in the delivery of the Inverkip City Deal project and I'm pleased fellow councillors backed these updated proposals to allow officers to proceed to the next stage and move a step closer to starting work and delivering positive change for the village, Inverclyde and the wider city region.

"We have already successfully delivered two of the three Inverclyde City Deal projects with the stunning new £20m Greenock Ocean Terminal and the £11m Inchgreen Marine Park.

"We are now edging closer to realising the Inverkip development which would help unlock major investment in the former Inverkip power station site and deliver hundreds of new homes.

"We are determined to deliver these important improvements and this is an exciting step forward."

The project was first developed in 2014 with the intention that the plans would be undertaken by the private sector owners of the former power station.

In late 2023, the council's environment and regeneration committee and City Deal Cabinet approved a change of plan which meant the project delivery responsibility transferred to the local authority.

Since then, proposed elements of the project have evolved.

The main change is to the Brueacre Junction, with a T- junction now being proposed rather than a roundabout. This follows further design development and transport modelling around future capacities for the village.

The road infrastructure project would help pave the way for redevelopment of the former Inverkip power station site, bringing major economic benefits and potentially deliver:

• 400 construction jobs and 120 jobs in follow-on development

• £28m construction gross value added (GVA) impact

• £4m annual ongoing operational gross value-added impact for Inverclyde and £6m for City Region

• 650 residential properties

Inverkip is a regional regeneration priority that recognises the need to address vacant and derelict land, open a significant redevelopment opportunity site, address housing needs supporting population growth and secure economic and environmental benefit.

The new plans will now be put to the City Deal Cabinet for approval and, if successful, the proposed construction work is due to commence in late 2024/25 and be completed by autumn 25/26.

The update report is available on the Inverclyde Council website and the committee meeting is available to watch on the council's YouTube channel, both links under Related Documents.