Spending Review: Kirkcaldy town centre set for game-changing multi-million £ investment
Kirkcaldy town centre is in line for game-changing multi-million pound investment following the Government’s Spending Review announced today.
Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, said the Lang Toun would be one of only three locations in the UK to get priority access to the new £240m Growth Mission Fund which has been set up to create jobs and business opportunities.
The news was warmly welcomed by Melanie Ward, MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, who has raised the issue in Parliament - as recently as last week on a number of occasions and lobbied key Government Ministers.
Hailing a “landmark opportunity” she said: “I’m delighted to have secured this commitment to regeneration support for Kirkcaldy in our Labour Government’s first Spending Review. Support to drive renewal of our town centre is badly needed: soon we will have the chance to begin changing it from being a relic of the past to the modern, welcoming and prosperous community asset that it should be.
“We are blessed with so much beautiful coastline but the potential of our town - including its economic potential - is marred by the current situation, which does not do justice to the ingenuity, drive and creativity of our people.”
Kirkcaldy town centre - once the jewel in Fife’s crown - has been badly hit by the loss of a raft of big names, including M&S, Tesco, BhS and Debenhams, and is scarred by ugly gap sites and two unwanted, under-used multi-storey carparks which are also set to be torn down.
Ms Ward added: “The prioritisation of Kirkcaldy by the Chancellor today is an enormous opportunity for the Lang Toun. It stands in stark - and welcome - contrast to almost two decades of underinvestment and decline in Fife from the SNP and the Conservatives. The change we need will not happen overnight but now we have the backing of our UK Labour Government to take the first step.”
The detail of how much Kirkcaldy will get has yet to be established with Fife Council key to drawing up a detailed plan to ensure it delivers the biggest benefits for the town.
But the announcement means that Kirkcaldy will be prioritised in the fund which will invest £240 million of capital from 2026/27 to 2029/30 in projects that enable local job creation and the economic regeneration of local communities.
In the House of Commons, the Chancellor said: “We will establish a Growth Mission Fund to expedite local projects that are important for growth, projects like… Kirkcaldy's seafront and High Street, where investment would create jobs and business opportunities... Because people deserve a government which shares their ambition for their local area to deliver renewal, to deliver growth, to deliver opportunity and that is what you get with a Labour government.”
The announcement comes hot on the heels of a meeting last week between Ms Ward and Councillor David Ross, leader of Fife Council, and Ken Gourlay, chief executive of the local authority, to discuss plans for economic regeneration to be prepared for any announcement.