260910 - AEPB Minute
North Ayrshire Council · 10 September 2026
Back to Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board — 10 September 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board 10 September 2026 At a Meeting of the Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board at 2.00 p.m. involving a combination of participation by remote electronic means and physical attendance within the Council Chambers, Irvine. Present (Physical Participation) Councillor Anthony Gurney (North Ayrshire Council); and Councillor Iain Linton (East Ayrshire Council). Present (Remote Electronic Participation) Councillor Joe Cullinane (North Ayrshire Council); Councillors Douglas Reid and Linda Mabon (East Ayrshire Council); and Councillors Brian Connolly, Alec Clark and George Weir (South Ayrshire Council). In Attendance (Physical Participation) R. McCutcheon, D. McDowall, S. Wilson and H. Young (North Ayrshire Council). In Attendance (Remote Electronic Participation) G. Saunders and P. Davies (East Ayrshire Council); K. Braidwood and J. Tait (South Ayrshire Council); A. Cox (Ayrshire College); C. Baird (Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce); A. Dobson (Taste of Arran); and L. Eckford (Visit Scotland). Apologies Councillor Eleanor Collier, C. Hatton, L. Kirk and E. McMullen (North Ayrshire Council); J. McLachlan, D. Mitchell, J. King and E. McKay (East Ayrshire Council); S. Penman (South Ayrshire Council); L. Brennan (UK Government); P. Zealey (Skills Development Scotland); A. Rice (Scottish Government); A. McIntosh (Prestwick Aviation); G. Docherty (Strathclyde University); M. Goodfellow (Highlands and Islands Enterprise); A. Luce (University of West of Scotland); and C. Warburton (Visit Scotland). Chair Councillor Douglas Reid (agenda item 1-4), and Councillor Tony Gurney (agenda item 5-8) in the Chair. 1. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest by Members in terms of Standing Order 11 and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors 2. Minutes The Minutes of the Meeting of the Partnership Board held on 21 August 2026 were confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
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3. Appointment of the Chair In accordance with the rotation arrangements, Chairing and Clerking responsibilities transferred to North Ayrshire Council for the Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board and Joint Committee. Following a motion by Councillor Douglas Reid, seconded by Councillor Alec Clark, it was agreed, subject to approval at Joint Committee that Councillor Gurney be appointed as Chair for future meetings of the Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board and Joint Committee. 4. Ayrshire Growth Deal Capital Projects – Change Management Request Submitted report by the Head of Service (Ayrshire Growth Deal) seeking endorsement for a change management request which was agreed by the Scottish and UK Governments in relation to the Ayrshire Innovation Park and the Community Renewable Energy (CoRE) project. This was submitted to the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee (AEJC) for approval. Following discussion and questions, the Partnership Board agreed (a) to endorse the proposal to proceed with a multi-site delivery approach of the CoRE Vocational Skills and Training Academy, across three thematic hubs: CoRE in the Community; CoRE in Industry and CoRE in Education, and remit officers to proceed with developing designs and submission of Full Business Cases in relation to these; (b) to note (i) the proposal to proceed with reallocating a portion of funding originally identified for the CoRE Research and Innovation Centre to deliver CoRE legacy projects across communities and the Council Estate; and (ii) the proposal to agree flexibility of Ayrshire Growth Deal funding across East Ayrshire projects transferring up to a maximum of £5.0m from CoRE to Ayrshire Innovation Park; and (c) to endorse the change management request for submission to the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee for approval. 5. Ayrshire Innovation Park (Phase 3) – Approval of Full Business Case and Contract Award Submitted report by the Head of Service (Ayrshire Growth Deal) seeking endorsement by the Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board for the Full Business Case for the Ayrshire Innovation Park (AIP) development attached at Appendix 1 to the report, and its recommendation to the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee, comprising the construction of the Ayrshire Engineering Park (AEP) element of the AIP, along with one industrial unit as part of the AMIC project. Following discussion and questions, the Partnership Board agreed (a) to endorse the Full Business Case for Phase Three (industrial unit build) of the Ayrshire Innovation Park; Approve the submission of the Full Business Case to the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee to enable the award of tender to the preferred contractor upon endorsement of full business case by Scottish and UK Government; and (b) to note (i) that a change management request was submitted to the UK and Scottish Governments in April 2026, setting out proposals to deal with the significant funding gap which was approved on 5 August 2026; (ii) that this phase aligns with Phase One infrastructure works currently being undertaken onsite and which are due to be concluded by November 2026; and (iii) the content of the report.
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6. Flexible Advanced Business Space, i3 Irvine Phase Two, Full Business Case Submitted report by the Head of Service (Ayrshire Growth Deal) seeking endorsement from the Ayrshire Economic Partnership Board of the Full Business Case (FBC) for Phase Two of the Flexible Advanced Manufacturing Space Project at i3 Riverside Business Park in Irvine, prior to approval by the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee. Following discussion and questions, the Partnership Board agreed to (a) endorse the Full Business Case for Phase Two of the Flexible Advanced Manufacturing Space project at i3, subject to the successful outcome of the tender process; (b) approve the submission of the Full Business Case to the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee; and (c) delegate authority to the Executive Director (Place) to update the Full Business Case to reflect the feedback and outcome of the tender process. 7. Urgent Items There were no urgent items. The meeting ended at 3.05 p.m. The full meeting proceedings can be viewed at https://north-ayrshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/home