£1.9m funding for Fife projects including Silverburn Flax Mill and Glenrothes’ Riverside Park

The Dunfermline gap site, Mill in Leven, Cowdenbeath Town House, Glenrothes’ Riverside Park, and Inverkeithing Heritage project are also in line to receive a portion of Scottish Government cash after Fife Council’s cabinet committee meeting.

The Scottish Government is likely to allocate £1.9 million to the region as part of its Place Based Investment Programme. It aims to support place-based projects across Scotland that meet the needs and aspirations of local communities and accelerate the Scottish Government’s ambitions for 20-minute neighbourhoods, town centre actions, community led regeneration projects and community wealth building.

Leven’s Silverburn Flax Mill renovation is still more than two years away from completion, but the £10m restoration project is well underway. Construction started last September after 11 years of planning and fundraising with Fife Employment Access Trust (FEAT) at the helm. The renovation will see the mill transformed into a new visitor attraction for the area. The visitor centre will include a café and restaurant, a backpackers hostel, artist studios, a retail shop and community space.

Inverkeithing Heritage Renewal Programme will get the biggest boost of £600,000 to get the project over the finish line.

It aims to restore Inverkeithing Town House, provide a facelight for the High Street and Market Square, move the Mercat Cross into the heart of the town, and provide a grant scheme to help private owners and businesses in the High Street area to improve their properties. The scheme is already well under way, but a committee report explained the the main contractor has submitted an “extension of time claim.” If agreed, that claim could see costs rise by £300,000.

Cowdenbeath Town House regeneration will also benefit from an anticipated £400,000. BRAG Enterprises has developed a five-year business plan and is currently working on detailed designs. The construction is expected to cost approximately £1.2 million - only £144,000 of which has been secured.

Other beneficiaries include £300,000 for the Dunfermline Gap site City Square. The Dunfermline and West Fife constituency previously submitted a bid for the UK Government’s Levelling Up funding, but was unsuccessful. As a result, the project needs to find cash to meet the shortfall. Riverside Park's regeneration project in Glenrothes will get £300,000 to help “meet increasing costs and scope” of its £5 million project.