Scottish Marine Technology Park report backs Clyde revival clydebankpost.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from clydebankpost.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
WORK has begun on a new marine technology park that is expected to support more than 1,000 new jobs in West Dunbartonshire. The area’s MP has hailed plans for the Scottish Marine Technology Park (SMTP), on the site of the former Carless oil refinery in Old Kilpatrick, after the Scottish Government approved a grant of nearly £2 million for the project. Martin Docherty-Hughes recently met Malin Group managing director John MacSween to discuss the progress of the project so far. The government grant of £1.98 million comes from the Scottish Government’s Clyde Mission fund – a £10m programme to regenerate the banks of the river between the east end of Glasgow and Gourock and bring new and sustainable jobs to the area.
AS I write, the Caledonian MacBrayne website shows weather warnings or cancellations on 27 of 29 routes. There is not a lot moving and few people travelling in or out of the islands. Still, the freight must get through so services are gallantly maintained, albeit by an ageing fleet. Vessels 801 and 802, currently in some undefined state of unreadiness at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow, were supposed to address these challenges by now on the Arran and Uig-Tarbert-Lochmaddy routes. Instead, they have become symbols of what Holyrood’s Rural Affairs committee described as a “catastrophic failure” of procurement processes. The saga doubtless has a long and legalistic passage to run. Meanwhile, the islands will continue to need modern, reliable ferries.