Fife Council release £120k for Dalgety Bay hub design costs

Fife Council have agreed to release £120,000 to cover design costs, planning consent and application fees for the new community facility off Regents Way, with the aim of gaining permission next year and starting building work in 2026.

It will come from the £2m the local authority have already pledged to the Dalgety Community Trust for the project - they still need to raise another £4.5m - and chairman Phil Evans said they were "thrilled".

A visualisation of what the new community hub in Dalgety Bay could look like. All going well, building work will start in 2026. (Image: Dalgety Community Trust) READ MORE: Starbucks aim to drive-thru proposals for new cafe

He added: "This award is a massive vote of confidence in not just our fantastic plans for the new hub, but also in our community and the work of the trust.

"We are very grateful to the council in awarding us this funding which will allow us to proceed with the work necessary to secure full planning consent for the new hub.

"This will involve four to six months of detailed work with our architects and engineers, we are hopeful that we will achieve our planned consent in 2025."

The plan is to demolish The Kabin and the existing community centre, the site also includes the green space between Louie Brown's and Dalgety Parish Church, and replace the out-of-date buildings with the new hub.

It will have multi-purpose community spaces, a large hall / performing arts space, community café and training kitchen, enterprise and working spaces, a heritage centre, IT support facilities and an outdoor civic space - "a central gathering space with a traditional village green feel" - to be used and enjoyed by the community.

Mr Evans said: "In parallel with the work to secure planning consent we will be working hard to secure the rest of the funding we need to deliver the new hub.

"We already have £2m of funding from Fife Council, but need to raise a further £4.5m.

"With the funding we already have in place and work on our planning consent underway, we are confident that this can be achieved to allow us to start building in 2026."

Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay councillor, Patrick Browne, said: “This is a very welcome decision and delivers another milestone in the project.

"This funding will allow the project to proceed to planning application process.

"The Dalgety Community Trust, its trustees and supporters should be congratulated in their sterling efforts to get the project to this stage - building on the previous work done by the Dalgety Bay and Hillend Community Council.

"Given it has been less than two years since the council earmarked funding for this project, it has moved very fast and hopefully we can keep that momentum in delivering a community hub that meets the needs of the local community.”

The trust was established in 2019 and currently has a membership of 230.

Councillors at the cabinet committee were told it has a "proven track record" in attracting funding after raising £234,000 for projects including woodland management, a heritage trail and a pump track.