Community Benefits Example
Fife i3 Programme
Fife's flagship Industrial Innovation Investment programme (i3) is part of the Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region Deal.
It is a ten-year £9.4m Investment Programme that will deliver much-needed new buildings and serviced sites in key locations in Mid and South Fife. It will support the creation of 1,000 new skilled permanent jobs and almost 600 short-term construction jobs over the 15-year lifetime of the City Region Deal.
It will facilitate more joint working between the region’s universities and Fife businesses, drive productivity and deliver higher-value, skilled, and permanent jobs from data-driven innovation.
The i3 programme will be delivered in three phases. Phase one, which runs until March 2022, includes developing new commercial units at: Queensway in Glenrothes; Dunikier in Kirkcaldy; The Avenue in Lochgelly; the new North Interchange in Dunfermline; and at HIlend and Donibristle in Dalgety Bay
These will include a mix of completed buildings to let and serviced land available for immediate investment by new or existing businesses.
Community Benefits
Development on the i3 programme is being led by Fife Council’s Building Services team, in partnership with local sub-contractors and supply chains.
Working across many Fife Council construction projects, the team accommodates up to 30 new apprenticeships annually, with up to 120 individuals working towards completion at any one time.
On the Queensway Industrial estate programme specifically, they were able to employ 2 apprentices and also facilitate an SVQ LEVEL 3 in Production of glass and supporting fabrication.
Furthermore, the team were able to divert 100% of all waste from landfill into reuse or recycling, saving up to an estimated £107,076 in disposal costs. This diversion also prevented 62,400kg of CO2e being created and disposed of, with only 2500kg of CO2e produced when recycled.
Whilst delivering community benefits during the pandemic has been challenging, their supply chains have continued to make valuable contributions to local causes.
Megan Harrison (Left, Dads Project Worker) and Jackie Phillip (Child Support Worker) unveil the new mural at the Cottage Family Centre thanks to Bell Group
As part of this, Bell Group (paining and decorating contractor), were asked to help brighten up the main entrance to the nursery at The Cottage Family Centre. The Centre supports families and individuals within family units who are vulnerable to social exclusion as a result of factors such as poverty, unemployment, poor housing, relationship breakdown, drug and alcohol problems and health related issues.
The team at the charity identified an image they wanted to be painted and Bell Group staff painted the mural – supplying the paint and other materials required. Bell Group are one of the UK's largest painting and decorating contractors employing local workforces across the country - incluidng offices in both Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh
To find out more about the i3 Programme, visit the website of Fife Council's Planning and Economic Development Team - Invest Fife: https://www.investfife.co.uk/who-we-are/city-region-deals/