THE new owner of the former Hyundai and Freescale/Motorola site, Freddy Shepherd, believes that his renewable energy plans at Halbeath can create 2000 permanent jobs.

Mr Shepherd, former high-profile chairman of Newcastle United, has bought the ill-fated site from Freescale for an undisclosed sum and is vowing the long-awaited jobs are finally on their way.

His Newcastle-based firm, Shepherd Offshore, has 30 years’ experience in the marine, sub-sea and offshore industry with recent expansion into the windfarm sector and is already involved in a project to turn the Tyne into a world-leading hub for green industries.

The firm now plans to transform the Halbeath ‘white elephant’ - never used since being built in the 1990s as a state-of-the-art micro-chip manufacturing plant - into a centre of excellence for renewable energy.

The plans would see the main factory block demolished, offices retained and the scheme would also include part of the site being sold off for housing.

The arrival of a group involved in a growing industry has been welcomed in West Fife after so many disappointments in the past with Hyundai, Motorola and latterly Zoom promising jobs which never came.

In an exclusive interview, company boss Mr Shepherd told the Press, “This site has been a monument to defeat and failure for the past 13 years and we want to make it a monument to success.

“This is a great site, right next to the motorway, the housing’s very good and it’s very close to Rosyth so it’s a perfect fit for us.

“We have a track record in creating jobs, as we are doing in Newcastle, and once the site is completed we could have 2000 jobs there.

"It’s a very big area - about 150 acres - and so it has great potential.

“I’ve been up a couple of times to see the site and already there’s been a great amount of interest in the office accommodation.

"We’ve had 100 calls in the space of a morning making enquiries.

“The local MP, Thomas Docherty, has been a great help in making this happen and Fife Council have been much more supportive than many others we’ve dealt with in other areas.

“We’ll be starting work immediately. Some people might say wait till the New Year but we’ll have people on site shortly.

“The main area is a building within a building and so it can’t be used for other purposes and will have to be demolished.” After years of inactivity at the site, the deal to secure a new owner happened very quickly with the company approaching MP Mr Docherty last month and the first meeting between the council and Shepherd Offshore taking place on 18th October.

Negotiations continued over last weekend and the deal was finally signed on Monday.

Mr Docherty said, “I’m delighted that the deal has gone through which can bring many skilled jobs to the area.

“It’s great news for West Fife especially coming at the same time as more good news on the jobs front at Rosyth Dockyard.

“The plans would see a small corner of the site being sold off for housing to pay for the demolition but I was happy to go along with that and so were Fife Council.

“There were times at the weekend when the deal came close to collapsing but in the end an agreement was reached.” Councillor Tony Martin, chair of Fife’s Environment, Enterprise and Transportation committee, said, “Whilst it is early days, it is understood that this development will be strongly linked to Invest in Fife’s work in promoting Fife as a major location for inward investment and skills development in relation to new industries including renewable energy.

“The new owners intend to consult widely in the local community before any planning application is lodged.

“This site has lain empty for too long and I am sure that everyone in Dunfermline will welcome the announcement that at last the site is to be redeveloped.

“I understand that the new owner of the site has completed an evaluation of the existing buildings and has concluded that there is no viable re-use for the main manufacturing facility as the internal structure prevents alternative uses.

“It is therefore proposed to demolish this part of the site but the office block will be refurbished and made available for re-let with the potential to create a substantial number of jobs.

“This further reinforces Fife’s reputation as a leading player in the energy sector and adds another strong location to the range of site options available for inward investors in the energy sector.” Douglas Chapman, SNP deputy leader on Fife Council, welcomed the news saying, “If the building can be demolished then perhaps this opens the door to some of the exciting plans put forward in the past by Carnegie College and its partners to re-locate the college on the Hyundai site.” The college had its own vision for an enterprise village at the Hyundai site attracting businesses from energy, knowledge and creative sectors.

College principal Professor Bill McIntosh said, “Carnegie College could be the key to attracting a nucleus of value business to the site.

“The 150-acre site is also well capable of supporting state of the art sporting facilities such as soccer, rugby, athletics and pretty well anything else one can think of if the funding can be secured.

“Perhaps organisations with a community-wide perspective such as Royal Dunfermline can work with the buyers, Fife Council and other interested parties to secure imaginative and forward-thinking looking answers to a site which has been a local and national embarrassment for 10 years.”