The HALO Kilmarnock Reaches Major Milestone
A Planning Application Notice, now lodged with East Ayrshire Council, is an important step in preparing a masterplan for the £65 million development HALO development on the site of the former Diageo bottling plant in Kilmarnock.
The HALO Kilmarnock will:
· Generate £53.6m of GDP for the Kilmarnock every year
· Contribute £65.8m to the Scottish economy annually
· Create 1,400+ direct jobs
· Support 630 construction jobs
· Increase rates revenues for Kilmarnock by £1m+ per year
Marie Macklin C.B.E. a director of The HALO Kilmarnock Ltd:
“A huge amount of work has taken place to shape a viable development plan that meets the aspirations of local people expressed at an earlier public consultation event. The regeneration will bring a whole new dimension to the town centre – with a unique mix of uses that will create new jobs and add to the wider East Ayrshire and Scottish economies.
“We have been encouraged by the engagement of public and private sector organisations in our proposals and already a number of organisations and businesses have expressed interest in being based at The HALO which will include an enterprise, innovation and cyber hub, ensuring that Ayrshire has a meaningful place in the fourth industrial revolution, the digital world.”
The innovative regeneration scheme is being driven by The HALO Kilmarnock Ltd, formed by The Klin Group and Ross Developments and Renewables of Glasgow. Diageo PLC and East Ayrshire Council have each pledged £2million to the re-generation of this important town centre site.
The HALO is being shaped as a multi-faceted brown-field regeneration that will create an innovative inspirational and imaginative urban park - with a surf pool - and a dynamic commercial, educational, cultural, leisure and lifestyle quarter, with a renewable energy-powered low carbon district heating network which will address fuel costs on the site and have the capability of being extended to other areas of the community. The development will also include a light manufacturing facility and key worker private rental accommodation.
The proposals for The HALO which will centre on a new Urban Park, will foster businesses in engineering, manufacturing and textiles, with a focus on innovation and enterprise. It is proposed that the development will provide exhibition space and a year round leisure and water sports facility centred on its wave/surf pool, as well as local shops.