River Clyde marine technology park planned

A marine engineering company plans to establish a new technology park on a derelict site in West Dunbartonshire in bid to bring marine manufacturing back to the Upper Clyde.Glasgow-based Malin Group, which is working with Scottish Enterprise, has commissioned an economic impact assessment on the 47-acre Old Kilpatrick site.Land development and infrastructure consultants Peter Brett Associates found the Scottish Marine Technology Park would create 986 jobs, if fully realised, and add £125.4 million annually to West Dunbartonshire’s economy.The construction phase of the project will also see more than 600 additional short-term jobs created.The site, formerly the Carless oil facility, is land zoned for industrial use. It also has direct access to a deep-water channel via an 80m long deep-water quayside berth with heavy lift facilities.The proposed development, which is in an advanced stage of planning with West Dunbartonshire Council, will see a £10 million remediation and regeneration of the contaminated land that is a legacy of the past oil refinery.Bodies involved in a consultation on the project included Scottish Canals, West Dunbartonshire Council, Crown Estates, Marine Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and SEPA.