AFTER 10 years of being excluded, Fife will finally get the chance to benefit from its share of a £10.7mil fund which goes towards improving derelict land.

Despite having the fourth largest area of vacant and derelict land in Scotland, Fife has never received money from the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF) since it was created in 2004, and has missed out on a share of an estimated £96.6m which has been allocated to other areas around Scotland.

There are 199 sites in Fife which are classed as either vacant or derelict, and now thanks to successful lobbying by Fife Council they will reap the benefits from the £1.32m share of the money.

However, after a decade of being overlooked for the fund, Fife Council aren’t taking any chances that the money will continue to be awarded in years to come, so have planned out a strategy that will see the money used as a ‘rotating fund’, which can be used to continue and sustain the improvement of derelict land in the future.

The decision to implement the rotational fund was made at the executive committee meeting on 9th September, and Councillor Lesley Laird, Fife’s spokesperson for economy and planning, explained why the move makes sense.

“It’s going to be part of a wider strategy,” she said. “Instead of blowing the money all on one area, many different places will benefit.

“We can put the money in to clean up a piece of ground, or CPO (compulsory purchase order) a building, then demolish it to free up the site to restore it and sell it. We’ll then recoup the money which will go back into the fund, and we’ll build up a revolving fund.

“There’s no guarantee we’ll have access to the VDLF funding next year, so this will help the project be sustainable in the future.” Cllr Laird also praised the efforts to get the funding after being denied for so long. “We lobbied very hard to get this and we’re absolutely delighted,” she said.