Date named for long-awaited Park and Ride project

Construction of a new park and ride facility in is due to start next month following delays, it has been confirmed.

Taylor Wimpey have confirmed the building of the new facility at Sheildmuir Railway Station will commence on Monday, March 2, weather permitting and is expected to take three months to complete.

Construction had initially been planned for January 2018 but the project stalled due to other issues with Network Rail which had to be addressed first.

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The station is located within the Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig ward of North Lanarkshire Council. Local representative Councillor Nathan Wilson welcomed the news, having repeatedly contacted Taylor Wimpey, Network Rail and the council about this issue.

Last year he highlighted that Sheildmuir was the only one of ten car parking projects commissioned by North Lanarkshire Council between 2009 and 2015 that had not been completed.

Councillor Wilson said:  “I have pursued the park and ride at Shieldmuir Train Station with Taylor Wimpey, Network Rail and the council in the period since my election in May 2017.

“It is hugely positive news that Taylor Wimpey has now confirmed a construction start date at the beginning of March.

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“It is absolutely vital that the work commences this time after the decade-long delay to the project and the previously failed start date in January 2018.

“Residents at the nearby housing estate have been extremely disappointed and frustrated at the repeated postponements to the project and quite rightly so.

“After my research last year discovered that it was the only one out of ten car parking projects still to be completed over a six-year period in North Lanarkshire, this only emphasised how vital it was for matters to progress.

“If construction work does finally commence in March, it will be a victory for local people and all of their efforts to bring the project to fruition.”

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Another representative of the ward, Councillor Agnes Magowan, also welcomed this progress. She said: “This area has been an eyesore for years and I am delighted  that Taylor Wimpey is at long last honouring its contract to ensure the much needed Park and Ride Facility is completed.

“I would like to thank Marion Fellows MP for her continuous pressure and support in getting this facility completed.”

In a letter to Councillor Wilson, Taylor Wimpey managing director Willie Burns said: “I can confirm that significant progress has been made towards the completion of the above works. A contractor has now been appointed and is currently preparing for a site start.”