Ravenscraig Houses, Scotland : Information

The first phase of work has begun at Ravenscraig as bulldozers moved on to the site following the appointment of Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering. The £25m first phase is now underway. It comes after the House of Lords' decision to dismiss an appeal against granting Ravenscraig town centre status. It means Balfour Beatty are now on site to begin infrastructure works that will create the platforms needed for the construction of 820 houses at the Carfin and Cleekhimin end of the site. The construction work on phase one will initiate the development of about 25% of the whole site and will include a regional sports facility, featuring a full-sized indoor football pitch, 120m athletics track with sports hall and outdoor training pitches. Phase one will include a 280,000 sq ft campus for Motherwell College, replacing the existing site in the town, with work due to begin next Autumn. It is expected the first phase of work will create over 200 construction jobs over the next five years. Ravenscraig Ltd, comprising William Bowden Developments Ltd, Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire and Corus, hope the entire project will create 12,000 jobs and over £1.2 billion of investment during the next 15 to 20 years. Tony Greig, William Bowden, said: "This is a project of national significance and it was vitally important we got the best people to oversee this landmark development. The start of work on phase one of the development represents a significant milestone in the regeneration of Ravenscraig and we can now look forward with confidence to this crucial project taking shape." Ian Barr, Balfour Beatty, said: "We are looking to successfully delivering this major investment opportunity with the assistance of the local community that will, on completion, provide significant local and national benefits." Wilson Bowden Developments with partners Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire and Corus (formerly British Steel) are developers for this 1100-acre site adjacent to Motherwell and Wishaw in central-west Scotland. Wilson Bowden headquarters are in Leicestershire; their housebuilding division, David Wilson Homes, is due to build at least half of the houses. Wilson Bowden are reportedly due to contribute millions to improve Motherwell town centre, improve local schools, to pay for half of the Sports Scotland facility and to allocate funds and land for two new primary schools within the masterplan. Ravenscraig reputedly contains 5% of the total brownfield land in Scotland. Ravenscraig : Masterplan Wishaw Housing North Lanarkshire Council plans a £4.5m regeneration of the Gowkthrapple area in Wishaw by demolishing blocks of flats to be replaced with modern housing. The community of Gowkthrapple has suffered an image problem and deprivation issues in recent years. It is hoped the new houses will help create a more appealing environment. A total of 246 properties in Caplaw Place and Linghope Place, including Caplaw Tower, were ear-marked for demolition and the work is well underway. A visit to the site by local councillor John McGhee and Gowkthrapple Regeneration Group representative Isabel Russell took place recently to monitor progress. Ravenscraig Sports Facility