Town Centre Regeneration

Councillors have agreed to further investment in Kirkcaldy town centre.

£350, 000 is to be spent resurfacing roads, improving pavements and bus stops, and providing decorative lighting.

A further £50, 000 will also be used to tidy up the Town Square where the monthly Farmers' Market is staged.

This phase of improvement on Kirkcaldy High Street will deliver:

Continuation of the granite pavements and resurfacing of the road
Better parking spaces that are protected from the road
Improved bus-stops and a bus shelter
Trees, benches, bins and a mosaic of the Kirkcaldy town crest on the triangular island at the Nicol Street junction

The left turn lane into Nicol Street will remain
The Charlotte Street junction will continue with the existing lanes and traffic lights operation
There will be enhancements to civic lighting with uplighters and fittings to improve festive lighting at the West End
Plans to redesign the north end of Kirkcaldy Town Square and provide decorative winter lighting in Memorial Gardens will also benefit from the Kirkcaldy Town Centre Development Fund

The Committee has also agreed to spend £25,000 from the fund on winter lighting, or tree dressing, in Kirkcaldy Memorial Gardens.

Representatives in the town say a further £400, 000 is needed to see the plan through fully.

Cllr Neil Crooks, Chair of the Kirkcaldy Area Committee said: 

"Kirkcaldy Town Square and the Memorial Gardens is a key feature of the Cultural and Heritage Quarter identified in the Time For Action Plan.

"The square plays host to the Farmers' Market every month and is increasingly being recognised as a venue for events. These next set of improvements will be a welcome addition to further progress the Town Square and Memorial Gardens, offering good quality public spaces in the town centre.

"We're beginning to see the benefits of Kirkcaldy's Town Centre Development Fund of £1m in the area. Work has now started on the first project which was awarded funding earlier this year. The £175,000 facelift to the level of the Esplanade multi storey car park that provides direct access to the Mercat Shopping Centre will include lighting improvements, bright coloured surfacing, wider parking bays and improved signage."

A paper will be presented at a future Executive Committee meeting requesting support for the remaining £400,000 on phase 3 of the Kirkcaldy High Street Public Realm project.