Cumbernauld is the poor relation again

Scottish Nationalist-turned Independent Alan O’Brien has accused Scottish Minister for Regeneration Alex Neil of snubbing Cumbernauld in favour of the new town at Ravenscraig.

The Cumbernauld North councillor secured a meeting with the minister in the hope of trying to harness cash for an area so many regard locally as an eyesore.

The councillor wants an upgrade which will allow Cumbernauld to compete with other shopping areas such as Stirling, Falkirk and Glasgow.

However, it is claimed that the crunch talks failed to yield any response from Mr Neil – who has since made £73 million worth of cash available to fund further development on the giant site of the former steelworks.

Councillor O’Brien is now accusing the minister of double standards – and wants to know why the largest town in North Lanarkshire has failed to secure its own cash windfall in turn.

For full story, see this week’s Cumbernauld News dated Wednesday, July 4.

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