£24,000 to repair Kinghorn harbour damage six months after storm damage

On Tuesday, the committee considered a request from Fife’s Communities and Neighbourhoods service to spend the money from the town’s Kinghorn Common Good fund.

“The harbour is not safe and the longer it sits like that, the more unsafe it’s going to become,” council officers stated.

A committee report explained that if the harbour damage was left unaddressed, it risked the possible collapse of the coastal wall - leaving the RNLI station and other properties inaccessible.

Committee convener, Councillor Ian Cameron (Labour for Kirkcaldy East) added: “The key thing is that we need to get repairs done as soon as possible. Really, what we need to do is just get it done.”

No one disagreed with the importance of fixing the seawall and slipway, but there were some concerns about the funding and process.

Councillor Kathleen Leslie (Conservative for Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy) was not happy about the process but agreed to use the money anyway to fix a crucial safety issue.

She said: “This is not about community benefit, this is about safety - it’s about ensuring access to the beach is safe. The slipway is closed for the moment, but if a child or dog gets near that slipway I wouldn’t want to think what the outcome of that would be.”

She explained that Common Good funds are usually used for the benefit of communities, and applications are usually for 50% of the total cost of a project. In this case, the Common Good fund will foot the entire bill. The works are expected to be completed by the end of May.