FIFE VACANT AND DERELICT LAND AUDIT 2024

This report presents a summary of the 2024 Fife Vacant and Derelict Land Audit (VDL). The VDL survey is carried out annually to feed into the Scottish Government's Vacant and Derelict Land Survey (SVDLS).

1.1  Fife Council is committed to the reuse of vacant and derelict land, actively promoting this through policies, guidance and use of the Vacant & Derelict Land Fund (VDLF). 

• NPF4 encourages and promotes the reuse of vacant and derelict land and properties, as a means of contributing to climate change targets and sustainable economic growth. 
• The Plan for Fife sets out the Council’s vision for a Fairer Fife with the ambition to develop thriving places with the reuse of derelict land and buildings forming part of our focus to invest in key town centres. 
• The Fife Economic Strategy aims to grow a stronger, greener and fairer economy for Fife, ensuring that more wealth is generated, circulated and retained in Fife and its communities for the benefit of all.   One of its priorities is to develop serviced employment land sites and bring vacant and derelict land and buildings back into productive use and another to deliver place-based investment to revitalise and repurpose Fife’s key town centres. The re-use of key high street and town centre sites supports regeneration to improve quality of place, well being  and drive successful local economies.    
• Vacant and Derelict Land can also be contaminated where it poses a risk to people, the environment or property due to its former use. More information on the Council’s Statutory role can be found by following the links below.

1.2 The following policies and guidance actively promote the reuse of Vacant and Derelict land:

•  National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) 

•  Fife Council's Local Development Plan  (FIFEplan)

•  Plan For Fife 2017 - 2027  

•  Fife Economic Strategy 2023 

•  Contaminated land | Fife Council 

•  Fife Council's Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy 2019  

•  Scottish Government Contaminated Land Statutory Guidance  

•  Scottish Government Land Use Strategy 2021-26  

1.3 An interactive map which complements this report can be found on the   Fife Council   website. Previous Vacant and Derelict Land Audit reports are also available on the website.

1.4 Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the extent of vacant and derelict land is fully recorded and reported, there may be further sites which meet the criteria but have not yet been put forward for assessment and inclusion and thus are not contained in this report. Fife Council will not accept responsibility for any financial or other claims arising from any errors in this document. We are committed to improving the content of this document and will amend any inaccuracies brought to our attention. (  land.audits@Fife.gov.uk  )

2.1 Vacant land is land without constraint and indicated by the  Planning Authority  as currently available for redevelopment. The land must either have had prior development on it or preparatory work has been undertaken in anticipation of future development. For the purpose of this survey, a site is categorised as vacant land if it satisfies all the conditions below:

-It must be at least 0.1 hectares in size;

-It must be located within the settlement boundary;

-It must have previously been developed;

-It must not be in use (except as temporary open space);

-It must be ready for new development;

-It must have a new use intended for it in the Local Development Plan or via Planning Permission;

-It must not include a useable building.

2.2 Vacant Land and Buildings This classification should only be used if it is not possible to identify a plot of vacant land on its own without including some associated non derelict buildings. The site must meet the first six criteria required for vacant land and also one of the following two additional criteria:

-The buildings are scheduled for demolition and are not currently classified as derelict;

or

-Demolition of the buildings is not anticipated (or the buildings future is unknown) the building(s) are a minor part of the site in relation to the vacant land element, and the site boundary cannot be easily redrawn to omit the building.

2.3 Derelict land (and buildings) is land which has been so damaged by development that it is incapable of development for beneficial use without rehabilitation. Land also qualifies as derelict if it has an un-remedied previous use which could constrain future development. Derelict sites can be located anywhere in Fife (both within and out with a settlement boundary) providing that it satisfies the following conditions;

-It must be at least 0.1 hectares in size;

-It must have been previously developed;

-It must not be in use;

-It must not be ready for new development without rehabilitation;

-It must not be a Scheduled Ancient Monument or Cemetery;

-It must not have a usable building(s) on it.

Figure 2.1: Vacant and Derelict Land Fife 2023/24

3.1 The 2024 vacant and derelict land audit has identified 200 sites across Fife amounting to 703 hectares of vacant and derelict land. This is a reduction of 10 hectares of land on 2023. The total amount of vacant and derelict land across Fife has been fairly consistent over the last 5 years. 

3.2 The sites can be analysed into Fife Council’s seven area committees. 

·         City of   Dunfermline

·         Cowdenbeath

·         Glenrothes

·         Kirkcaldy

·         Levenmouth

·         North East Fife

·         South West Fife

Figure 3.1: Vacant and Derelict Land by Area Committee – Fife 2023/24

3.3 Where a site overlaps the area committee boundary the site area has been split along the committee boundary and attributed to the appropriate area committee in this allocation. There are 2 sites that fall into this category, KA010 and KA10, between Glenrothes and Cowdenbeath Areas

3.4 Figure 4.1 shows South West Fife Area contains the largest proportion of Vacant and Derelict land accounting for 49% of the Fife total. The proportion of Vacant and derelict land within the City of Dunfermline Area committee remains the lowest 2.2%.

3.5 There are 8 sites covering more than 20 hectares each, 320 hectares in total that affect the figures in Figure 4.1.  6 of these large sites (223 hectares) are located in South West Fife.

4.1 Since the previous audit a total of 5 vacant and derelict sites have been brought back into use with a total of 12.85 hectares of land.

Figure 4.1: Details of Vacant and Derelict sites brought back into use 2023/2024

Figure 4.2: Total vacant and derelict land brought back into use 2014 - 2024

4.3 Figure 4.2 shows that the total land brought back into use has varied from year to year and has not followed any particular pattern. The position in 2020 reflects the impact of Covid on the Construction sector.  The variations between year reflects the challenging nature of these sites to rehabilitate and bring back into use.  

4.4 In 2015 a former open cast mine (site KA010) which amounted to 247.34 hectares was removed from the VDL Audit for definitional reasons. To avoid distortion, this was a particularly large amount, it is not been included in the total for 2015 shown in Figure 5.2. 

5.1 A total of 2 new Vacant or Derelict sites have been identified for inclusion in the 2024 audit with a total area of 1.3 hectares.  Due to the nature of Vacant and Derelict sites, we rely on the input of colleagues across the council who attend site visits and feedback on potential VDL sites while out in the field.

6.1 Since 2015/16 Fife Council has been one of five local authorities to have access to the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF) premised on a needs-based formula applied annually by the Scottish Government Statistical Unit. It is a ringfenced element of the local government budget settlement, as agreed between COSLA and the Scottish Government. In 2023/24 the council was allocated £1.1m.

6.2 The VDLF aims to tackle long-term vacant and derelict land in the areas of greatest need across Scotland. Its objectives are:

· to stimulate economic growth

· create jobs

· promote environmental justice and improved quality of life

· to support communities to flourish and tackle inequalities

6.3 The funding is currently allocated against circa 10 separate initiatives across Fife (some are programmes intended to cover multiple sites) and most of these remain in delivery. VDLF-supported projects are long-term (typically a minimum of 3-5 years), complex and often commercially sensitive. This is due to VDLF’s role in providing patient capital to deliver remediation of derelict sites which present complex ground conditions. Use of VDLF alone is seldom sufficient to remediate and bring sites back into productive use. Iit is often used to help unlock other more substantial sources of funding to enable this.

6.4 The following are a selection of current and proposed projects supported by VDLF:

Current projects in delivery

6.5.1 Fife i3 Programme: Since 2019, around £3.5m investment to bolster Industrial Estate regeneration across Fife. This is unlocking several other sources of funding including Edinburgh & South East of Scotland City Region Deal investment, Levenmouth Reconnected Fund and UK Government Funding. The programme includes sites at Hillend and Donibristle (Dalgety Bay), Muiredge, Mountfleurie (both in Levenmouth), The Avenue (Lochgelly) and Queensway Industrial Estate/Flemington Road in Glenrothes.

6.5.2 Fife Town Centre Regeneration Programme: - Around £3m investment in town centre sites to support proposed mixed-used development including affordable housing and commercial space working with the Fife Housing Partnership. The partnership with Kingdom Housing Association includes sites in Cupar ( Bonnygate/Inner Court ), Cowdenbeath (High Street/Factory Road. and Lochgelly (High Street/Hall Street former Fabtek Factory site. The VDLF is helping to deliver ground investigations, demolition of

derelict buildings, ground stabilisation and remediation across these sites in advance of proposed end-development.

6.5.3 Levenmouth Blueprint: Around £1m of VDLF has been secured for sites within the Levenmouth area. This delivers a combination of feasibility, site investigation, ground stabilisation and remediation works. Complex ground investigations commissioned by Fife Council and SEPA (in support of the Leven Programme) carried out by RSK Geosciences on a site in Levenmouth won a National (UK-wide) Brownfield Award announced at a ceremony in London in October 2022. The council are also negotiating purchase/lease of a long-derelict site at Chemiss/School Road in Methilhill. The aim is to invest VDLF to stabilise the undermined ground in support of community-led natured-based learning provision for young people in the area.

6.5.4 Ravenscraig Walled Garden, Kirkcaldy: - £750k VDLF invested to support the future re-use of derelict land (including listed structures) on entry to the well-used community growing space. There are two adjacent projects. Rural Skills Scotland have leased part of the site to transform into a skills hub and their main base. This project secured £491k of Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme funding now matched by an additional £150k of VDLF. The other project with around £600k of VDLF, is being led by Fife Historic Buildings Trust. This is for land leased to the Kirkcaldy Community Gardens and Allotments group. It aims to make the buildings at the entry to the site wind, watertight and structurally sound to support future funding bids to secure their re-use.

6.5.5 Dutch Village, Craigtoun Country Park by St Andrews - £300k invested to match £250k of Fife Council Capital funding to assist in the regeneration of the site. It has been closed off on public safety grounds. The VDLF l contributes to make the structures more wind/watertight and structurally sound. This ensures that the project to restore the Dutch Village is more likely to secure the investment required to deliver it’s full regeneration and re-open the site for public use.

6.5.6 Orzel Memorial, Rosyth: VDLF is supporting the acquisition, ground remediation and preparation of a site for a memorial to the Polish Navy World War II submarine, ORP Orzel, which was lost on patrol in the Second World War while operating out of Rosyth. The Council is working with several partners including the Polish Consulate in Edinburgh and Babcock to deliver the project.

Proposed Projects

6.5.7 Former Waste Transfer Site in Kirkcaldy: VDLF will support the acquisition and remediation by the Council. Heads of Terms have now been finalised with the current site owner. However, the acquisition is subject to the outcome of further intrusive site investigation works.

6.5.8 Climate Fife Plan and its associated Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SECAP): - Around £1.5m to support implementation. VDLF will deliver feasibility studies leading to on the ground remediation works across a number of sites. It is intended that the funding to deliver specific sites will be bolstered through future VDLF awards.

6.5.9 Community Renewables Initiative: The Council are supporting the Fife Communities Climate Action Network (FCCAN) to deliver a feasibility assessment, across a number of derelict sites, for a Community Renewables Initiative. This is mainly focused on installation of ground-mounted solar PV arrays. The £30k of VDLF is matched by monies from the Scottish Government’s ‘Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES)’.

6.5.10 Mine water geothermal projects: The Council are working with the Mining Remediation Authority (formerly known as the Coal Authority) to assess the potential of vacant and derelict land for geothermal projects. These could provide a renewable, low-carbon source of heating for homes and commercial premises. An Opportunities Map has been produced. This sets out areas with potential for such activity. Further feasibility and options appraisal work will be carried out in 2025/26.

7.1 This section focuses exclusively on derelict land and the population proximate to it. This is an estimated measure of proximity to derelict land and not their exposure to it. The Vacant and Derelict Land fund focuses on tackling long term derelict land across Fife therefore analysis of population proximity to long term derelict sites is also covered.

7.2 Figure 7.1 shows the % of population within 500 meters of any derelict site (2020– 2024). In 2024 it is estimated that 30.2% of Fife's population lives within 500m of a derelict site.

Figure 7.1: Estimated % of Fife population located within 500m of derelict land

7.3 Population figures are taken from the 2011 Census output areas. An average household population is calculated, and properties captured by the 500m buffer around derelict sites provides the total population figure.

7.4 Figure 7.2 shows the estimated % of Fife’s population which is located within 500m of long term derelict land (land that has been derelict for more than 15 years).

Figure 7.2: Estimated % of Fife population located within 500m of long term derelict land (2020-2024)

8.1 This section focuses on vacant and derelict land in Fife that is located within the 15% most deprived data zones in Scotland (as defined by the  Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation - SIMD ).  The SIMD identifies small area concentrations of multiple deprivation across all of Scotland and takes into account 38 indicators across seven domains: Income, Employment, Health, Education, Skills and Training, Geographic Access to Services, Crime and Housing.

Figure 8.1: Vacant and derelict land located within Scotland’s 15% most deprived (SIMD 2020)

8.2 There are 494 data zones which cover Fife and of these 76 are within Scotland’s 15% most deprived according to the 2020 SIMD indicators. Figure 9.1 shows a breakdown of the vacant and derelict sites which intersect these data zones (sites are included where the site centroid falls within the data zone boundary). A total of 36 vacant and derelict sites have been identified and amount to 55 hectares.