OAK Mall Downsizing And Flats Proposal Approved
PLANNING permission has been given for a large part of the Oak Mall shopping centre to be demolished and replaced with apartments.
All the units to the east of those occupied by Sally Health and Beauty and Bargain Buys will be lost under the plan which approved by councillors on Inverclyde Planning Board today.
Two residential blocks, either side of a wide pedestrian link between Clyde Square, will be built, containing a total of 119 one and two-bedroom flats.
A new eastern entrance to the mall will be created just to the west of the A78 High Street.
Board chairman Councillor David Wilson said: “The board approved this unanimously. I feel that what’s happening with the Oak Mall and also at West Blackhall Street, will help with breathing new life into Greenock town centre.”
The section of the mall involved has a high level of vacancies. Affected tenants will be offered space in remaining units.
The project will be phased; initially the residential sites would be grassed over until the flats are built.
Planners accepted that “reduced but concentrated floorspace will present a more positive image of the vitality and viability of the Oak Mall”.
