A grant of £550,000 has been set aside for the town of Cupar, Fife, to allow essential repairs and improvements to be carried out to its historic buildings and streetscape.

The money has been awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Fife Council has said.

The funding, which is being distributed through HLF's Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) programme follows a Stage-Two application for funds that was submitted by the local authority last year. The latest grant will top up the £1m announced by Historic Scotland for a Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) in Cupar.

The total investment made to the town centre now stands at £1.5m.

Commencing next month, the CARS and THI will run together and will be managed by Fife Historic Buildings Trust, in partnership with Fife Council. The initiative supports local authorities committed to investing in their historic environments, as an important way to help stimulate economic regeneration.

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Councillor Lesley Laird, Depute Leader and Executive Spokesperson for Economy and Planning said: "This new announcement is very good news for Cupar and its regeneration.

"The five year scheme includes a grant to find a new use for the historic Burgh Chambers, conserving this important landmark in Cupar, as well as funding towards the conversion of part of County Buildings to much welcomed affordable housing, planned for later this year.

"The scheme also includes funding towards Cupar's historic closes and wynds, as well as an extensive training and apprenticeships scheme that will create employment opportunities as well as leaving a lasting skills legacy for the care of historic buildings across Fife.

"This will be complemented by a focus on energy efficiency in traditional buildings – raising awareness and building capacity to tackle this important issue. This investment, in conjunction with the wider infrastructure improvements in Cupar will contribute to improving the appearance, attractiveness and functionality of Cupar's town centre."

Colin McLean, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, added: "The regeneration of town centres is an obvious way in which we as an organisation can make an important contribution to improving the economy of an area and the standard of living for the people resident there.

"Investing lottery money to revitalise historic buildings at the heart of Cupar, will not only make it a more attractive place to live, visit and invest in, it will also provides jobs and training opportunities for local people.

"We are delighted to make this award as part of our on-going commitment to preserving Scotland's heritage in a way in which is pertinent to the needs of today."

(JP)