Dunfermline Weekly 🏗️ 21 January 2024
Housing emergency, church auction, vehicle seizures, and more
🧊 The big cold week is now behind us. The forecasted snow never materialised, but we still got -6C overnight several times. It looks like we might see temperatures approach 10C this week, but this comes with a storm for a start.
🏠 The council has issued a warning about a housing emergency, primarily because of a proposed cut to the Scottish Government’s affordable housing funding. Three other council areas have already declared such an emergency already.
🏚️ Decrepit St Andrew's Erskine Church in Dunfermline will go on sale instead of being transformed into a community centre and venue as originally proposed. The large B-listed building right in the city centre (next to Kingsgate and the bus station) was still in church use in the 90s, but it has been boarded up and unused for years at this point. Seller’s surveyor has refused to comment on circumstances of the sale to Dunfermline Press, but it is understood that the charity aiming to run the community hub simply could not fund the extensive work required. The church is due to be auctioned off in late February.
→ You can view historical photos on Canmore.
🏗️ Fife is to become the site of a national building standards hub, which is to issue advice and other building standards services to local authorities and construction sector in general. A pilot programme has been testing the concept since mid-2022.
💓 West Fife has gained yet another automated defibrillator, this time at Fleet Grounds in Rosyth on the exterior of the Rosyth FC operated building at the sports facility, and it is accessible to the public 24/7. The device was gifted by the British Heart Foundation.
🕳️ An Inverkeithing pothole has been around so long that the community has reportedly named it “the old faithful”. The infamous road obstacle is located on Boreland Road near the train station and has recently seen a round of Christmas-themed social media mockery.
🩺 Kincardine’s struggle for a new health centre continues, with local councillors and MSP all committing to campaign for it - but as it stands Scottish Government is not able to allocate any funding towards it until after 2025.
⛲ Also in Kincardine, plans have been approved for a new park, intended as part of eastward expansion of the town. However applications for 600 houses and multiple retail units are still awaiting approval. Expansion has been talked about for two decades with a planning permission in principle having been granted in 2007.
🚨 Fife police have seized 198 vehicles between January-October last year. Some of those have been auctioned off with a total profit of £17,140 and others were scrapped.
⛴️ DFDS and Ptarmigan have asked UK and Scottish governments for funding to kickstart the proposed Rosyth-Dunkirk ferry. Border controls/customs and port infrastructure are other major issues still to be resolved ahead of service launch.
🛒 Aldi on Halbeath Rd in Dunfermline will be shutting in February for a 3-month refurbishment plan, with reopening due sometime in May.
🚧 A92 is getting resurfaced between Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly with roadworks lasting until 2 February.
🚧 M90 will see some overnight diversions at both ends of Queensferry Crossing as part of followup works to last year’s installation of automated road barriers. This time BEAR are planning the installation of road studs that can be lit up to redirect traffic in temporary lanes in case of barriers being deployed for bridge closures. The actual installation is scheduled for late February and will take three weeks.