Call to fill in quarry where four people died

The quarry has claimed three lives in as many years. Picture: Fife Photo Agency

Youngsters from Kirkcaldy and Burntisland are among those to have died at the Inverkeithing quarry in the last few years, but the group say the dangers of the quarry go back much further.

Action for Prestonhill has been launched by Kevin O’Neil and Gillian Barclay – each of whom have lost family members there.

The move comes after the latest tragic death of Edinburgh school teacher Kelda Henderson last month. 

In May 1973, Kevin’s brother Robert fell to his death at the quarry, aged 12. Then in August 2014, Gillian’s 18-year-old son Cameron Lancaster, of Burntisland, also lost his life followed by 18-year-old John MacKay of Kirkcaldy in June 2015.

“Drain it, fill it in and make the area safer for the community to use” – that’s the message from the group.

They plan to hold a meeting at Inverkeithing High School on August 29, at 7pm.

Gillian said: “There have been too many deaths at this quarry, and those of us who have lost someone there feel a great sense of regret and responsibility, despite campaigning and speaking out about the dangers of this quarry, people are still being gravely harmed by it. We need more action now.

“While there is water there it will always attract children and young people. The safest option is to drain the quarry and fill it in to protect everyone.

“I would like to encourage as many local people as possible to come along to this meeting to help us find a solution to this problem and to stop anyone else having to go through the devastation of losing a loved one at the quarry.”

Kevin added: “The dangers of this quarry have been known for years and the owners of the site have failed to protect the public. 

“It doesn’t help matters when others pull down some of the flimsy fencing but ultimately it is the responsibility of the owners to ensure the security of the site.

“The only safe option is to drain the quarry and fill it in. After that we can look at proposals to make it a recreational area that could be used by all local residents.”