In August, the Council was awarded £250k from the Scottish Government's Cities Growth Fund and announced that £175k of it was to be invested in Kirkintilloch town centre.

Now, two months on, the Council's Economic Development team has drafted a detailed Town Centre Improvement Action Plan for Kirkintilloch. It outlines how the £175k will be spent and what other improvements will be made to the town centre from other Council budgets and through partnerships.

The Action Plan will tackle the following activities:

• Street signs will be upgraded and new 'Welcome to Kirkintilloch Town Centre' signs will be erected
• An audit of street furniture (benches, bins, railings etc) will be done with old items being replaced and new stock being brought in at other sites
• Landscaping changes and improvements to the flower beds at Regent Gardens and the Peel Park area around the Auld Kirk Museum will be made
• A new public art installation and illumination of key buildings will be investigated
• A UNESCO plaque will be erected in Peel Park to celebrate the new World Heritage status of the Antonine Wall
• Roads will be resurfaced and re-lined where appropriate
• The Luggie Park underpass will be enhanced
• The tow path between Townhead Bridge and Southbank Footbridge will be improved

This Action Plan was approved by Councillors at last week's Development & Environment Committee. Vice Convener Councillor John Dempsey said: "This is a significant step forward by the Council in its drive to continually improve Kirkintilloch town centre.

"We named Kirkintilloch as one of our top priorities for town centre investment and this additional funding will enable us to continue to deliver on our commitments. This Action Plan tackles a number of very important jobs throughout the town centre, each of which will have an impact on the look and feel of the whole area."

Over and above these specific activities which will be tacked using the £175k Cities Growth Funding, a number of other projects will be pursued by the Council through its general maintenance regimes. These include:

• Window display programme for vacant shop in conjunction with landlords
• Cleaning existing road signs
• Re-painting of railings
• Graffiti removal and fly poster removal

Councillor Dempsey added: "We will continue to work in partnership with local traders and with the Town Centre Steering Group to deliver improvements like these to encourage a renewed sense of civic pride in Kirkintilloch."

(KMcA)