Rosyth News:- Via Dunfermline Press Here is the Dunfermline Press coverage of the waterfront issue. Scarborough Muir Group (SMG) first published plans for the area in 2006 but Fife Council have consistently refused to rezone the land to allow it to go ahead. The firm now believe they can get the go-ahead for an ambitious development including a parade of shops, a supermarket, hotel, cafes, bars, offices, a leisure centre and new homes on 120 acres of land they own. SMG director Ronnie Muir said, “We want people to get excited about our plans again. “Fife Council, the area committee and the councillors have changed to a degree since 2010-11 when the local plan was being renewed and the world has changed too. Business has picked up, there’s more activity and more demand for offices, warehouses, leisure facilities, new restaurants and coffee shops right across the country.” There are five main elements to the masterplan: creating a continuous business and industrial park by linking existing and new employment areas; The Rosyth Gateway – a commercial zone and ‘shopping destination’ with a supermarket and petrol station, leisure centre, larger stores and branded restaurants; the mixed use waterfront destination, combining a formal garden with a mixed zone of shops, offices, restaurants, galleries and apartments; Hillside Residential Neighbourhood with new homes, care facilities and flexible-use community building; gardens and landscape with pedestrian and cycling routes providing access to the waterfront. Mr Muir added, “The waterfront is a fantastic setting but has never been accessible by the public so we want to change that.” Half of the site, 60 acres, would be for ‘employment’ uses with the aim of bringing in firms complementary to the existing industry in the Port of Rosyth and Rosyth Dockyard. Mr Muir said, “We want people to start and grow a business here, to settle and put down roots here. “We also want visitors from across Scotland to visit the waterfront and the existing heritage including the bridges and Rosyth Castle throughout the year, to stay longer, to spend more and to return year on year.” He said the aim was to deliver a diverse and broad-based employment centre but also a “first rate waterfront experience” by making the best use of the landscape, history, links to Rosyth and neighbouring communities and the views to the Forth and its iconic bridges. Mr Muir concluded, “SMG acquired the site in 2004 and have spent the last 10 years remediating the former MoD fuel storage facility which was used by war ships during the last century. “This process is almost complete and the site is now ready to be developed and brought into use for the Rosyth public and tourists to enjoy and benefit from. “In addition to this, the economic benefit is substantial with the creation of an additional 3500 new and permanent jobs with some £500 million of investment.”
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 10:14:42 +0000