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Rusty signage on the Linwood Toll rail bridge will be restored to mark the history of a former auto plant and its workers, an elected official said.
Thousands of others plied their trade in a sprawling factory (which now houses the St James Business Centre and Phoenix Retail Park) that made the iconic Hillman Imp in the 1960s and 1970s. The plant opened in 1963 under Rootes’ ownership before being acquired by Chrysler and then Peugeot Talbot. It closed its doors in 1981, a decision that dealt a severe blow to the local population.
However, it remains a critical facet of the area’s heritage, said Councillor Andy Steel, who represents Johnstone South and Elderslie, at last week’s council plenary meeting. The SNP politician has tabled a move directing the chief executive to write to Network Rail, asking it to engage with stakeholders about the deterioration of the graphics, which reference some of the cars produced, on the Linwood Toll Bridge and features to restore them. The request was granted.
Councillor Steel said: “The former car plant is an essential component of the region’s heritage. Thousands of people have worked there for short or long periods of time. It’s a position where most people know someone who worked there, maybe their parents met while running there. They had a secure connection to it, in short, a real hub of the network for many years.
“However, the signage on the bridge is pretty much the only visual reminder left of the car factory and for the reasons I’ve already stated, the bridge actually deserves to be restored and left in better condition than the one that was stained with rust and discolored. The face he is presenting to the world lately sends the wrong message, I think, to citizens and visitors.
Councilman Steel said he would be pleased for citizens to see what they would like to see on the bridge, explaining that the factor is of interest to local citizens. He added: “Celebrating the heritage of our region. . . It’s one of the simplest and most productive tactical ways to create a sense of network and civic pride.
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“I know a lot of others have tried. . . So I’m under no illusions that it’s going to be simple and it’s going to be a very big logistical challenge with a living rail line and a busy road underneath. But it’s still a possibility to exhibit them for other people who paint there, it meant something, that we’re a living network of paintings and we’re celebrating our heritage. “
Councillor Eddie Devine, who represents Paisley Southeast, said: “It will be in honour of the other people who worked there; it may be something like ‘Hillman’s imp house,’ and in fact not Talbot and all the others who fled. “. and close the place. We don’t pay homage to this group.
A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “We are open to collaborating with local government and other stakeholders. We will await any long-term correspondence from Renfrewshire Council relating to the Linwood Toll Rail Bridge.
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