We only have one chance to get it right at each gap site in Kirkcaldy town centre

It’s an eyesore crying out for redevelopment - and an appalling first impression of the town to offer anyone arriving at the bus station. They’d be forgiven for turning round and asking the driver to take them straight back from whence they came.

What they see is a wasteland with fences which seem to have spent more time knocked down than keeping the land secure. So many seem to have been twisted out of shape as folk simply trample across them as they cut across to the small car park in Hunter Street that suddenly became much more noticeable when the centre was razed.

The formal planning process is now underway and there is a real desire to make this happen. Kirkcaldy certainly needs to breathe new life into this site - one of several which are dark stains on our town centre.

Putting flats on to the land will make a huge, positive change, and the blueprint comes with green space which has to be welcomed. There is also scope for some commercial development too. If we get the balance right, it can only be a win-win.

The critics will point to empty units along the High Street and ask why more may be created, but the reality is no-one wants the ones which have sat empty for years. They are too small or simply too vast, and far too many are in a dreadful state. We are stuck with them and will be for some time - it’s a problem facing every town centre in Scotland.

The sooner work starts on sites such as The Postings, the more people believe that change is coming.

But it is still a long game. The commitment to transform our town centre is strong, but the reality is it will take time. It took a decade to complete the public realm works the length of the High Street - a timescale that still seems utterly unbelievable - and it may be the same again before we finally get a town centre that meets the needs of today and tomorrow.

Getting rid of the gap sites one by one is progress. Housing is the obvious option, but not the only one. We need to see hotel operators looking at the town with a fresh perspective, and we also need leisure facilities to ensure the mix is what people want, need and, crucially, will use.

It’s a shame the beachfront restaurant planned for the site along from Morrisons seems to have been shelved - now there’s a waterfront location surely just waiting to be transformed - and we need to see signs of progress on the old Kitty’s land which is looking rather sad and forgotten.

The site of the old pool appears to have a wee tidy up judging by the activity there recently, but it’s hard to tell given the decrepit look of the back of the Mercat and the old walkway to the car parks which are now closed as they await the arrival of bulldozers to tear them down.

That could be a game-changer - all of the gap sites could be - but we only have one chance to get it right on each.

Let’s start with The Postings and get some momentum going.