Cover Story Falkirk Gateway and TIF
Falkirk Gateway sits opposite both the Falkirk Community Stadium and Helix Park which hosts the world famous Kelpies sculptures. The Falkirk Gateway offers two sites totalling around 11ha to be developed by Fintry Estates and Hargreaves plc. The mixed-use sites straddle the main entrance to Falkirk from the A9 and M9 giving an unrivalled opportunity to develop edge of town, single trip leisure and retail offers.
The sites are being supported under a £70m Tax Incremental Finance programme backed by a legal agreement between the Scottish Government and Falkirk Council. This agreement allows the Council to invest in road infrastructure and site enabling works by borrowing against future uplifts in business rates which the Government allows it to retain.
Under the TIF programme, the Invest Falkirk team have led the upgrade of road infrastructure near Junctions 5 and 6 of the M9 and have now appointed Balfour Beattie to deliver
Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP)
The PBIP is Scottish Government Capital Grant, awarded to all Local Authorities, to invest in local infrastructure and environmental improvements. The funding is for Local Authorities to allocate, working collaboratively with local communities, along with business and the third and public sectors, to support shared local plans and aspirations.
Investment is prioritised on projects which accelerate our ambitions for place, 20-minute neighbourhoods, town centre action, community led
regeneration and community wealth
building. The funding is also expected to contribute to net zero, wellbeing and inclusive economic development, tackling inequality and
disadvantage including child poverty, and community
involvement and ownership, including the repurposing of buildings, maintenance, and repairs, reallocating external space and community led land acquisition.
PBIP is anticipated to be a 5-year investment programme, which commenced in financial year 2021/22.
Falkirk Council, to date, has allocated a total of £3.4m of capital budget on local projects. Subject to future awards, a further £1.6m is scheduled to be invested in the Falkirk region, via the Programme, by its conclusion in March 2026.
Investment, to date, has enhanced the Council Capital Programme and enabled the delivery of key projects including:
• •
the rationalisation of Falkirk Town Centre property, creation of a 9 acre development site and facilitation of the new £60m Falkirk Arts Centre and HQ;
delivery of key town centre regeneration projects including a major public realm enhancement programme in Lint Riggs/New Market Street in Falkirk Town Centre, a Library accessibility upgrade and conservation programme in Bo’ness, and property rationalisation and retail relocation programme in Grangemouth;
• • •
8 investment in new CCTV in Bonnybridge;
a programme of environment heritage projects; and a programme of 5 community pavilion upgrades.
• •
improvements at the A9/A904 Westfield Roundabout, enabling the Gateway sites.
The works will involve: 2.5km cycle way
1km of new pedestrian paths 2.5km of resurfaced/improved new road 6 active travel crossings 3 new/upgraded roundabout
When completed, the infrastructure upgrades will enable Fintry to take on the Gateway sites delivering a mixed-use development comprising retail, leisure, food outlets and a new neighbourhood centre serving housing on the site. A key feature of the site will be a high quality continuation of the pedestrian/cyclist link from Grangemouth to Falkirk town centre, this will link into the Council’s own cycling and pedestrian network.
Grangemouth Sustainable Manufacturing Campus (GSMC)
The Grangemouth Sustainable Manufacturing Campus (GSMC) represents a key innovation focus for the Falkirk Growth Deal. Representing, at least, a £25m capital investment, the Campus will house a CO2 utilisation centre, and a Biotechnology Accelerator Pilot Plant. These projects are currently at Outline Business Case stage OBC stage under the Falkirk Growth Deal. The Campus objectives are to support:
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the creation of new sustainable manufacturing processes, including circular processes: GSMC will provide business with access to specialist equipment and expert support to help develop new industrial processes both around the capture and utilisation of industrial emission and the development of new biological production processes.
the decarbonisation of the Grangemouth cluster: Scotland’s chemical sector, and the Grangemouth cluster in particular, has been identified as a major contributor to Scotland and the UK’s industrial carbon emissions. GSMC will address this by providing R&D support to Grangemouth businesses around the development of alternative feedstocks and carbon capture & utilisation.
a clustering of activity around Grangemouth future as Scotland’s epicentre for sustainable manufacturing as well as supporting the town’s Just Transition Plan: the project will support the growth of the Grangemouth economy, both by supporting the growth of businesses already operating in the town, and by encouraging new businesses to locate to the town. The range of employment opportunity offered Gby SMC maximises economic opportunity and is fair and equitable allowing the economic value generated to be experienced by residents.
The GSMC will help the chemical sector make processes more sustainable leading to de-fossilised Chemicals, meaning that Chemicals are not produced/manufactured with fossil derived feedstocks. Chemicals are in many consumer products but are invisible to consumers as they are embedded within the products. Plastics, cosmetics, cleaning products, medicines and sustainable fuels are but a few of the many products we use daily that are increasingly looking for non-fossil derived chemicals. Grangemouth is the home of Scotland’s biggest Chemical cluster, and it has a great opportunity to become a model cluster for sustainable chemical manufacturing excellence. But it needs to transform and evolve a become a competitive net zero cluster. The GSMC will support commercialisation of technologies by focusing on high TRL level technologies (5-8) and will work with existing innovation centres to bridge the gap between lower TRL level innovation, academic innovation, and commercialisation.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MONTHLY 2024
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