Council vows to try again for regeneration funding

WEST Lothian Council has vowed to continue to seek funding from an innovative government scheme despite being unsuccessful in the first round of bidding.

The Scottish Government’s pilot Tax Increment Financing (TIF) scheme is a means of funding public sector infrastructure judged to be necessary to unlock regeneration in an area, and which may otherwise be unaffordable.

Last year, West Lothian Council submitted a proposal stating that the Armadale Core Development Area should be selected. The proposal was one of 16 from areas across Scotland but it narrowly missed out and was not one of the four schemes selected.

However, the government has announced that primary legislation may be brought forward before the end of the parliamentary session to roll out TIF more widely.

There may also be further opportunities to progress the bids not announced before then.

West Lothian Council leader Peter Johnston said: “Despite missing out on the first round of bidding, we received positive feedback on our initial bid.”