Despite the pressure on public spending, all three major funders of the regeneration company – North Ayrshire Council, Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise – have committed to sustaining their level of support for the company’s activities.
The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise have announced that their combined contribution to the work of the regeneration company will be £4 million for the next year – sustaining existing levels. This follows on from North Ayrshire Council’s continued support and commitment of £1.8 million.
Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil said: "Despite facing a number of major challenges including savage cuts to the Scottish budget from London, we are determined to transform the fortunes of Scottish communities.
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"I am pleased to say that as part of over £31 million we are setting aside for large scale regeneration projects, we are supporting Irvine Bay Regeneration Company to the tune of £4 million, through Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise. This funding will support the URC to continue with its ambitious plans for the transformation of the Irvine Bay area.
"We have also recently launched a national discussion to kick-start a wider debate about the key challenges and opportunities for regeneration in the future."
Patrick Wiggins, Chief Executive of Irvine Bay, said: "Our budget means that we have now seen all of our major funders maintain their commitment to us in this difficult economic climate, and that is an endorsement of our programme and is very welcome.
"It also means that we can have confidence that we can continue to make progress in delivering our core projects which will help to transform Irvine Bay. We will also continue to be innovative and energetic in looking to draw down additional funding in conjunction with North Ayrshire Council – such as that recently announced by Historic Scotland for Irvine’s Trinity Church – to help supplement our core programme."
