BUILDING eight more commercial units on the old Havelock Europa site will help meet demand from businesses keen on moving to Dalgety Bay.

Fife Council have submitted a planning application for single-storey premises, as well as access, landscape and parking, at West Way, in the Hillend and Donibristle Industrial Estate.

Work got under way last summer on starter units at the site and, with demand growing, there's every confidence the second set of commercial properties will be snapped up quickly.

Local councillor David Barratt said: "This will be same-again. The units that are already up are phase one and it was always planned there'd be a phase two.

"The first phase was built with money from the Longannet Task Force and this is being funded through the City Region deal and the Scottish Government.

"Fife Council are continuing discussions about any vacant land in the area as there is definitely interest from businesses who want to move to Dalgety Bay."

After a period of decline in the industrial estate, the council's policy of knocking down empty and unpopular sites to make way for new business premises is paying off.

Cllr Barratt explained: "There's money available to build units that people actually want rather than older buildings that don't suit their needs.

"Companies don't want these massive steel warehouses any more and no-one wants to move into an industrial estate that's declining.

"This is now a more modern industrial estate and businesses moving in encourages other businesses to move in, they thrive on that as they want to be where the hustle and bustle is.

"There's obviously the Gateway development, B&M have their planning application in and Asda are expanding so there's lots going on and Dalgety Bay is bucking the trend compared to many other areas."

The Havelock site became vacant when the company, a market leader in the manufacture and installation of furniture for sectors including education, healthcare, hospitality, retail and banking, relocated to Kirkcaldy in 2015.

The empty premises were bought and demolished by the council to help "regenerate" the estate and clear the way for new businesses to come in.

In November 2018, their £1.8 million plans for small business units on the site was approved.

The move was part of a long-term strategy for the area which was expected to make a “significant impact” on the estate’s regeneration.

At the time, strategic planning spokesperson Councillor Altany Craik said: “There’s high demand for quality business space in both mid-Fife and South West Fife and we’ve seen similar units snapped up in Glenrothes.

"This will be a welcome development of the Hillend and Donibristle Estate, where the council has supported significant regeneration in recent years.”

Havelock collapsed in August 2019 and was bought out of administration for an undisclosed sum by Deanestor, which has its Scottish head office on Carnegie Campus in Dunfermline.