Councillors are expected to back a ‘masterplan approach’ to speed up the regeneration of a troubled Fife street.
Fraser Avenue in Inverkeithing has long been stigmatised as “a bad area” with the local authority citing noise, class of lifestyles and neighbour disputes as reasons for the street being an unpopular place to live.
In April 2011 the council revealed plans to demolish and rebuild the area to make it more appealing to new tenants and “rebrand” the area.
Most residents consulted supported full redevelopment which would see 154 homes likely to split 50/50 between social rent and private ownership and three shops built.
At the time the south west area committee envisaged it would take up to five years to agree a strategy and arrange a budget to bring the plans to fruition to allow time for existing tenants to be rehomed and resolve ownership issues.
It was estimated that phased demolition and redevelopment of Fraser Avenue would then be able to take place over an estimated four-year period.
At Tuesday’s executive committee, however, members will be asked to approve a proposal to speed up the plan by establishing a cross-service project board to develop a masterplan approach, taking into account all related social, economic, physical and financial issues that may impact on the delivery of change.
Councillors will also be asked to agree a consultation to fully engage with tenants, residents and other stakeholders.
In a report on the issue, head of housing and neighbourhood services Derek Muir said: “The original timescale was to a large extent predicated on the availability of funding to support the physical regeneration of the blighted street (ie replacement of the housing stock).
“The timescale was also influenced by the council’s experience of large-scale redevelopment projects such as Kincardine High Flats, which took place over an eight-year period and the recent significant reduction in Scottish Government grant funding for affordable housing development in Fife.
“There is no barrier, however, to beginning the regeneration exercise now.
“The initial stages involve setting up a project board, the appointment of master-planners and the creation of a regeneration brief, which will involve significant community consultation.
“These stages are expected to take over a year.’’
Mr Muir added there were risks attached to accelerating the process such as identifying development partners and funding but said initial funding was available from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budgets to support the costs of the exercise.