At a meeting of the full council on Thursday, August 14, elected officials unanimously agreed to sign off on the city deal project with Glasgow City Council.

This means that council bosses will get their share of a £1 billion pot to spend on major projects, including linking Barrhead to the M77 motorway and the building of a new Barrhead South train station.

Speaking at the meeting in Eastwood, leader Cllr Jim Fletcher, pictured, said: “The prime minister made the announcement on July 4 that £500 million was being put forward for the Glasgow City Deal project.

“That was almost immediately matched by the Scottish government.

“It is my belief that this deal is a fantastic opportunity to generate jobs in the west of Scotland, and in East Renfrewshire itself.

“It also means that for an outlay of £6 million from the council, we will see £44 million being spent.” In total, it is expected that the deal will create 15,000 construction jobs across the region, with many going to top projects in Barrhead, create 28,000 permanent additional jobs once construction is complete and unlock £3.3 billion worth of private sector investment.

Included in the project is a new A road linking Barrhead to junction 5 of the M77, a tourist and visitor centre for the Dams to Darnley Country Park, major infrastructure works for over 1,000 new homes in the south of Barrhead and a new train station to support them.

There will also be further investment in Glasgow Road, where it has been rumored a national hotel chain, restaurant chain and supermarket giant Aldi are looking for a move to the town.

The council also admitted that the major projects planned would be impossible to carry out without the city deal due to the major costs involved.

The deal was welcomed by Barrhead councillors including Labour Cllr Kenny Hay who said: “I think a new rail halt in the south of Barrhead will be a big advantage due to the parking issues that we currently have at the current train station.

“I think it’s also a good idea to have a station at both ends of the town, and to have a new road joining Barrhead with the M77 motorway would alleviate some of the pressure on the dams road.

“There is also the opportunity to make the Dams to Darnley Country Park a real asset to Barrhead, it is currently an area that is certainly underused, being used mainly for fishing.” An official signing ceremony is expected to be held this month, however all of the listed projects will need to go before council again during the planning stages, and they will be delivered over the course of a number of years.

Council leader Fletcher added: “We are delighted to be part of this exciting initiative. Our residents will benefit from the overall programme of infrastructure investment across the City Region.

“They will see an improved infrastructure and connectivity to support local growth and increased employment opportunities arising from the development of these projects.

“There will also be increased longer term job prospects across the wider region. So there are exciting times ahead for East Renfrewshire with major projects in the pipeline.” A tri-partite agreement between the UK and Scottish Governments and the Clyde Valley partners will be signed at Glasgow City Chambers in mid August.