Jobs Plan For West Fife

There are calls for a positive strategy to bring 5, 000 jobs to Rosyth.

Councillors will meet with Forth Ports, Babcock and Scarborough Muir next week to discuss the future of the port and the waterfront.

Plans for a £500 million waterfront regeneration scheme were released last year.

Councillor Douglas Chapman said: "There is a meeting with the three principle landowners next week and we need to take the opportunity to impress on them the ambitions we have for the whole waterfront area at Rosyth and the huge jobs potential of a site that is attracting international interest. It really is time to aim high.

"Over the next 5 years, we could and we should be setting a target of creating 1000 new jobs every year, 5000 new jobs in total – to take advantage of the additional economic  interest there will be in the area following the opening of the Queensferry Crossing. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for West Fife and we need to promote the area, and the job prospects, with all our energy and enthusiasm.

"I believe the whole waterfront site, from the M90 right through to the proposed container port, could be made more ready for an upturn in the economy, but we need to see a lot more focussed attention paid to how we best market the site here at home and internationally. Having the target of 1000 new jobs every year through the next Parliamentary term gives us something to aim for and be measured against, but start now should be the clear message.

"Due to the disparate and sometimes competing activities of Forth Ports, Babcock and Scarborough Muir a strategy to develop the waterfront and port has never been agreed to, however using the 1000 jobs a year as bait, perhaps we can get all the key players to focus on a can do approach which benefits their business, but also the local economy, school and college leavers and those looking for work."