In September, I highlighted residents' concerns about the poor state of some of the landscaping at the Technology Park, particularly on Riverside Avenue, being a key "ambassador route" entrance into the city.
I am pleased to have been given updates from both Scottish Enterprise (who own the technology park) and the City Council following a on-site meeting between the council's Environment Department, Scottish Enterprise and Colliers International, Scottish Enterprise's Property Portfolio Managing Agents.
Scottish Enterprise has advised me, "The purpose of the meeting was to inspect those areas of landscaping and road verges along Riverside Way and Apollo Way and clarify/agree what areas were currently being maintained by the City Council, Scottish Enterprise and private owners based with the Technology Park.
Following the meeting it was agreed that Scottish Enterprise/Colliers would write to the individual landowners again, highlighting their responsibilities in terms of landscaping in and around the Technology Park."
The City Council has further advised, "At the site meeting it was acknowledged the ownership of the various parcels of land has created a fragmented approach to a constant quality of maintenance and Scottish Enterprise was going to write to all the owners re the condition with the objective of improving the overall quality of the maintenance which is the individual landowners responsibility or whether there was an opportunity for a single contract through collaboration.
DCC cut some of the verges and we are having a further meeting with then to formalise this.
Scottish Enterprise was going to get back to direct although I know that they are having difficulty tracking down the actual owners for the ground.
From a Council perspective we see opportunities at the ground next to the Swallow Roundabout which is effectively the gateway into the city and are awaiting details of the ownership. There might be opportunities of a focal point although funding is an issue and we were going to examine the sponsorship route."
I am pleased that there has been some progress on this matter and will continue to liaise with both the City Council and Scottish Enterprise. It is important that the entrance to the city at such a strategic road looks tidy and there is also the issue of ensuing that the small number of residential properties at the eastern end of the technology park do not have foliage from the technology park impacting adversely on their gardens, something again Scottish Enterprise advise me it is seeking to address.