There was disappointment at East Dunbartonshire Council this week as news came through from the Scottish Government that the authority's bid for £1.3m funding for Kirkintilloch town centre had been unsuccessful.

In June, the Council supported by Kirkintilloch's Initiative, submitted an application for a share of the £60m Town Centre Regeneration Fund to breathe new life into the heart of Kirkintilloch.

Councillor Billy Hendry, Convener of the Council's Development & Environment Committee, said: "To say I am disappointed at losing out on this cash, which would have gone some way to help achieve our goals, is a huge understatement.

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"We worked very hard on a comprehensive bid to attract funding to build on the improvements we are already making and the investment which we have committed to. With this cash we'd hoped to carry out a number of key infrastructure improvements which would ultimately support new business and inward investment."

However, not all the £60m fund has been allocated and the Council and its partners will regroup and revisit the bid in time to lodge a revised application by the end of August ahead of the next funding announcement in October.

Councillor Hendry added: "This is a setback but we are not discouraged and we will try again through this and all other means at our disposal to get as much investment as possible into Kirkintilloch."

On a lighter note, Councillor Hendry was delighted to give an update on the £100k project to transform Regents Gardens.

He said: "The project is now complete and access will be available soon. The new public space has already received many compliments and will provide an excellent location for informal use as well as being a key location for the town centre at the end of the month."

(GK/KMcA)