£10m fund launched to revitalise areas around River Clyde

A £10m fund has been launched to revitalise areas around the River Clyde.

Earlier this month the Scottish Government pledged £35m for Mission Clyde, a bid to facilitate the economic recovery of the area from the east end of Glasgow along the Clyde to Greenock and Dunoon.

The first £10m fund will soon open for applications for capital projects.

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “The river has great potential with its existing company and skills base and world-class universities on its doorstep.

“Despite these assets, areas around the river continue to suffer disproportionately from deprivation and have been hit hard by the pandemic.

“The Clyde Mission Fund will support projects that will create jobs, benefit places and communities and support Scotland’s environmental ambitions as we work with our partners to build a stronger, fairer, greener Clydeside.”

The Programme for Government said: “These discrete projects are important examples of the varying challenges of decarbonising heat in buildings and the scale of investment required.

“They also demonstrate how decarbonising our buildings can have multiple cross-benefits – from securing a sustainable future for a beloved biodiversity leader and tourist destination to demonstrating the potential for our natural assets to change the way we source our heating.”

The remaining £25m will be used to support the transition of the area to net zero, including investment in zero carbon heating networks.

Mission Clyde was set up as a partnership between six local authorities in the area, Scottish Government agencies and Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities.