Published Date: Mar 3rd, 2021
New facilities at the council owned Dunnikier Park golf course, common good funding for Kirkcaldy Old Kirk and improvements and repairs to roads and pavements across the area were approved when Kirkcaldy Area Committee met yesterday (Tuesday, 2nd March).
The Committee agreed to a request from Fife Golf Trust to invest £20,000 towards the installation of up to 10 fully accessible, covered practice bays and storage facilities at Dunnikier Park golf course. This is the next stage in a community led initiative by the local golf club and sponsors designed to grow the game of golf and to encourage youngsters into the game
A 6-hole course, complete with golf training and development facilities, has been up and running since August 2019 and is already popular with pupils from local schools who receive weekly coaching as part of the curriculum, but poor weather led to the cancellation of a number of sessions. The idea of the covered bays came about as a solution to keep the sessions happening regardless of the unpredictable Scottish weather.
Committee Convener Cllr Neil Crooks said: “This whole project has seen Fife Council working in partnership with others. Together with the Fife Golf Trust, Dunnikier Park Golf Club and the course’s PGA Professional we’ve seen more than a hundred pupils from local schools take part in golf taster sessions. There’s 80 new junior members and another 50 getting weekly coaching. It’s really great to see all this happening.
“The partnership has worked with Scottish Golf to launch Girls Sixes and encourage girls to pick up a club, and with Scottish Disability Golf to encourage people with disabilities to get involved too. We have Active Schools Fife involved as well – it really shows what can be done when we work together.
“The covered practice bays will be a brilliant addition to the council’s provision and make sure that learning and growing the game can continue, no matter what the weather brings.”
The committee also approved an application from the Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Trust to release £15,000 from the Kirkcaldy Common Good Fund to help towards the repair and conservation costs of the Old Kirk Tower.
Cllr Neil Crooks, Committee Convenor, commented: “The Old Kirk is an important part of Kirkcaldy’s heritage. It’s where Adam Smith, one of Kirkcaldy’s best-known sons, was baptised and the restoration work will preserve one of our town’s great visitor attractions. I’m pleased that we’ve been able to help with this money from the Common Good Fund. It’s timely given the current plans to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s birth in 2023.”
Improvements and repairs to the area’s roads and pavements worth £827,000 were also given the green light by the Committee.
Amongst the work planned in the Area Roads Programme for 2021/22 are road resurfacing works at Cairns Street West, Christie Place, Broom Road, and Templehall Avenue in Kirkcaldy, Main Street, Auchtertool and Aytoun Crescent, Burntisland. There’s also footpath resurfacing works planned for Rosabelle Street, Redcraigs, Chapelhill and Meldrum Road in Kirkcaldy.
A new pedestrian crossing on Dunnikier Way in Kirkcaldy is also in the pipeline and cyclists and pedestrians can look forward to having a safer route between Middle Den and Dunnikier Park when the work is complete.
Cllr Neil Crooks, Committee Convenor, commented: “Residents of the Kirkcaldy area have told us how important it is to get our roads and footpaths repaired and we’re spending more than £800,000 doing just that. This programme of works will improve the journeys of road users and pedestrians across the area”
