A Barrhead business park is set to be expanded under a £2.6m project which could see 10 new units provided.

Extra commercial space will be created at Crossmill Business Park, Bowerwalls Place, if plans go ahead.

Money would come from the Glasgow City Region City Deal, a £1.1bn infrastructure programme funded by both the UK and Scottish governments.

A report stated the site, in council ownership, is “available for immediate development and modern space for employment will bring wider economic benefits to the area”.

Council officials added early analysis has shown the proposed plots are “able to accommodate around 23,600 sqft of new space”.

They said: “These plots occupy a prominent position facing onto Glasgow Road, are accessed from the service spine road and amount to circa 1.5 acres.”

The land has been leased to Scottish Water for the last 3 years, but will be vacated in autumn 2024, the council report added. It is expected the units would fall under the use classes of offices and light industry, general industry and storage.

Detailed design would be confirmed at a later stage but the proposals include 16,100-21,500 sqft of business space “split into approximately ten units”.

A terraced development capable of being subdivided is planned to “provide the flexibility required to meet known and emerging demand”.

Extra funds are available from the City Deal pot after the Glasgow Airport Access Project was put on hold to allow a Metro scheme to be developed.

Just over £12m was retained to support the Metro case for investment but over £129m has been made available to member councils, with 50% for regional and 50% for local projects.

East Renfrewshire is estimated to have £2.4m for local projects and the “preferred option” is to develop the business park.  The report added remaining funding for the project would be provided by East Renfrewshire Council, but this “will be offset by providing the land for the units”.

Interest in units on the site “remains significant”, officials said, demonstrating a “continued need by local businesses for small, modern business space”.

Cabinet members will be asked to approve preparation of an outline business case next week. It would be submitted to the City Deal programme management office.