Kirkcaldy walled garden greenhouse facing demolition – ‘too far gone’ to be saved

It has put forward a planning application to Fife Council for its complete removal.

A supporting statement said: “It is dilapidated and now acts as a health and safety risk, unfortunately there is no viable option to repair as the integrity of all timber and glass is too far gone,” a planning statement explained.

The Trust has brought the project forward after revealing that the local authority has obtained funding from the Scottish Government’s Vacant and Derelict Land Fund to carry out repairs and make safe the walled garden’s derelict glasshouse, the adjoining stone wall and two of the B-listed stone sheds.

Despite the boost from the funds, the Trust said it has realised that the greenhouse was too far gone to save.

“After some investigation into the feasibility of repair, it was realised that unfortunately the weather has caused irreparable damage to the timber framed structure, so demolition is the only viable option,” a planning statement said.

Pictures from 2010 show the size, shape and details of the greenhouse, but the Trust highlighted that even back then you could see signs of weather and age related damage.

“This has only worsened in the further 14 years of abandonment,” a planning statement said. “The greenhouse is now almost completely obscured from overgrown planting.”

If approved, the Trust plans to remove the entire greenhouse structure, but the stone and brick walls that support it are to remain and will be protected. It said that the greenhouse in question is not within the conservation area, nor is it attached to the listed wall. Nor has it been deemed to have “any historical or conservation significance.”

The Trust said this planning application only considers the demolition of the greenhouse at this stage, and other applications seeking permission for the other aspects of the project will follow. Fife Council will consider the application and make a decision in due course.