Dysart road reopens '“ seven years on!

The road between Edington Place and High Street has been closed since December 2009 after a wall on it collapsed into a neighbouring garden.

Immediately after the collapse of the wall in 2009, Fife Council closed it off to traffic for safety reasons with large concrete bollards and it remained like that while repair works were completed and it finally reopened this week.

At the time residents blamed the rerouting of a bus service for weakening the road and the wall, but a court ruled that there were many different contributing factors, including the age of the wall and water on the road freezing and then thawing.

The incident resulted in a lengthy legal battle between the owners of the wall and Fife Council before anything could be done.

The council issued an Order under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 for its repair. However the landowner was successful in appealing to the Sheriff Court in August 2012 to have the reconstruction costs shared with Fife Council.

A budget for undertaking the works was secured from the climate change capital budget in December 2013.

The council’s legal services team was tasked with undertaking negotiations with the landowners and their solicitors to enable the works to proceed.

This process commenced in 2014, however, it proved difficult to conclude until July 2016.

Joleen Carrington, chairman of Dysart Community Council, said it was a day people in Dysart had been longing for.

“It is fantastic that it has finally reopened after seven long years and it is already making a difference for local residents who don’t have to hike up School Brae any more.

“It is also a shame that my mother-in-law (Kay Carrington) didn’t get to see it reopen as it was one of her big campaigns.”

Glyn Ednie, a former Dysart resident and former member of the community council, said: “This is not before time. When I was on the community council we were supportive of the many Dysart residents who were badly affected by this and who attended community meetings for years trying to get something done.”

Timeline

December 2009 - Wall collapses into garden of house in High Street, Dysart. Street closed to traffic from Man I’ The Rock pub to Cook Street. Fife Council issues a repair notice to landowners but an appeal for costs to be shared is successful. December 2013 - money secured from climate change budget for repairs. Lengthy negotiations between parties not concluded until July 2016, when repair work starts.