WORK is underway to prepare land in Grangemouth for future investment relating to the Forth Green Freeport.
Grangemouth is the largest approved tax site in the Freeport area, alongside Rosyth and Mid Forth (Leith and Burntisland).
A Falkirk Council report points to its strategic importance – with its port, industrial base, and chemicals sector placing it at the centre of wider plans for the town’s economic future.
The green freeport offers tax and customs incentives to attract investment in areas such as manufacturing, port activity, low-carbon industry, and future energy. Across the full area, it aims to secure up to £7.9 billion of public and private investment over the next decade.
Work in Grangemouth is now concentrating on getting sites ready so they can attract that investment when opportunities arise. A project is already underway at South Bridge Street. Led by Falkirk Council, it is using seed capital funding to improve access, install drainage and utilities, and prepare the brownfield land for development.
A number of other schemes are being progressed using Freeport seed capital. This includes £500,000 for site preparation at Wholeflats. The site is intended to support a proposed Grangemouth Sustainable Manufacturing Campus which is being progressed in parallel through the Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal.
The largest proposed investment to date at Grangemouth is £5.5 million for land preparation at the Calachem site. This would see around 20 acres of brownfield land brought back into use as serviced industrial space, with the potential to support up to 1,000 high-skilled jobs.
Substantial support is being provided to support improvements to utilities capacity around Grangemouth and £1 million is earmarked to increase electricity capacity at the port to help meet future demand.
Paul Kettrick, Falkirk Council’s head of investment, assets, and climate, said, “This investment is about making Grangemouth ready for future growth, and enabling future businesses to relocate to the area and support the transition of the local economy. Grangemouth already has major strengths as Scotland’s largest port, an export hub and a long-established industrial centre. The work now focuses on improving infrastructure and addressing practical barriers that can hold projects back.
“That includes access, drainage, utilities, power capacity and brownfield land preparation. While these are not always the most visible parts of regeneration, they are essential if sites are to attract new industrial activity. This will take time, and the final decisions sit with businesses. The role of the council is to make sure Grangemouth is as competitive as possible, and we hope elected members will recognise this report as an important step forward for the area when it comes before them later this month.”
