Waterfront development sparks row

By David Miller
BBC Scotland news

Mr Spowart said council officials have refused to meet him

Politicians and planners in Fife have been accused of trying to scupper a "once in a generation" chance to create 6,000 jobs and secure £500m investment.

Jim Spowart, one of Scotland's leading businessmen, said plans to redevelop the Rosyth waterfront have been met with "a wall of silence and hostility".

He is the chair of a group which backs proposals to build business, retail and leisure facilities on the site.

The claims have been rejected by Fife Council and trade union officials.

Mr Spowart, the founder of Standard Life Bank and Intelligent Finance, told BBC Scotland proposals from the Scarborough Muir group are being put at risk because of opposition from Fife Council and a lack of support from Scottish Enterprise.

But the council, Forth Ports and trade union leaders have all warned that the redevelopment plans would themselves threaten the long-term development of Rosyth as one of the UK's most important deep-water ports.

Critics say housing developments could jeopardise business

Mr Spowart is also chairman of the Rosyth Waterfront Liaison Group, which has produced the plans to develop an empty 235-acre site to the west of the Forth Road Bridge.

He said: "I just can't understand it.

"Here's a developer wanting to create over 6,000 jobs, in a prime location close to Edinburgh, near the city's airport, who's going to spend over half a billion pounds and we're getting a very poor reaction from both the council and its officials."

Fife Council is firmly opposed to the redevelopment plans.

It believes the area around Rosyth is not suitable for a mixed use development and should remain designated as an industrial zone.

Mr Spowart said council leaders and representatives of the local enterprise company have refused to meet him to discuss ways to end the deadlock.

But the leader of Fife Council, Peter Grant, told BBC Scotland he is prepared to meet Mr Spowart to discuss the best way forward.

Sandy Smart of the Unite trade union, which represents workers at the Port of Rosyth, fears any move to build homes near the waterfront could prevent future industrial development there.

'Slow death'

"The designation of the land at the moment adjacent to the Port of Rosyth is for industrial use," he said.

"If the land designation is changed to residential, then you'll end up with housing developments there.

"What we've seen in the past, in other areas of the country is that the minute that houses are built alongside existing industrial facilities, people are unhappy with the noise and smell and lorries going past at all hours of the day and night.

"The very genuine fear from the employees and the companies concerned at these sites is that their businesses will be jeopardised and put at risk.

"It'll be the slow death of that area of the economy."