PLANS to build a new community centre in Linwood have been shattered after the Big Lottery Fund rejected a vital bid for £1million.

The Linwood Community Development Trust (LCDT) lodged the bid earlier this year for the centre, which was part of the Mossedge Village Project, in the hope it would be accepted after previously being rejected in March when it applied for cash through a different strand of funding.

But, after four years of work and £206,000 of investment, the trust was dealt a giant blow on Monday when it was told for a second time that its application had been snubbed.

Fund bosses said that, with two other facilities nearby, a third community building did not offer value for money.

The project also includes a 3G pitch with changing rooms but the trust has said this can still go ahead as alternative funding has been found.

The Scottish Government announced it would contribute £800,000 to the project earlier this year and Renfrewshire Council pledged £300,000.

Jeanette Anderson, chair of the LCDT, branded the Lottery bid rejection as “unfair.”

She told The Gazette: “We are absolutely shattered. This is unfair and no-one can understand why this decision has been made.”

Kirsty Flannigan, trust manager, added: “The trust and the Linwood community are going to go ahead with our projects.

“This is not the first time the trust and Linwood has been unfairly dealt with. The football pitch will be built, the nursery businesses will go ahead, our grocers Roots will grow and we will invest £1.6million in Linwood.”

A spokeswoman for the Big Lottery Fund said: “Our committee judged that, with two other facilities close by, a new third community building did not offer value for money and they also had concerns for the ongoing sustainability of the project.”

A Renfrewshire Council spokesman added: “The funding would have been the final component needed for the project, which included £300,000 from the council and a further £800,000 which the council had applied for from the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, on behalf of LCDT.

“The council will continue to support the LCDT team as they consider future options.”