Extra Cash To Tackle Vacant And Derelict Land

A £1.78 million fund is to be used to help the council tackle vacant and derelict land across the Kingdom.

Depute Council Leader Lesley Laird welcomed the announcement Fife will, from next year, be able to access the Scottish Government's Vacant and Derelict land fund –for the first time ever.

Fife has previously been excluded from the fund despite having the fourth largest area of vacant and derelict land in Scotland.

Councillor Laird, spokesperson for Economy and Planning said council lobbying has achieved results: 

"This is great news for Fife and I’m glad the work the council has done on this has paid off.

"We knew that we had a strong case to make in terms of gaining access to this fund. I was more than happy to push the case for Fife and am pleased that the merits of our argument won through and we can now start to assess the best way in which to utilise this money."

Work has already begun and just last week the council began asking community councils to help identify sites in their area so that the most accurate picture can be put together.

Cllr Laird said, 

"This work is key to helping us have an accurate picture of vacant and derelict land in Fife. We want to ensure that local communities are involved in helping us as their insight and local knowledge is invaluable.

"By doing this work it means that we will have the most up to-date information. This helps us to continue to make the best case possible for Fife when any future grants or funding becomes available."