Kirkcaldy’s £20million: why contentious masterplan needs to pass the ‘Amby Test’

The attendance at the recent drop-in events to see the plans for the first time was excellent. Folk were outside waiting on the doors to open at the Old Kirk. For once a council consultation sparked a healthy turnout with a lot of interest - and questions - in the room.

The debate which followed on social media started on a negative and quickly snowballed. I wonder how that same debate might have been framed had it begun by highlighting the positives?

The proposed Adam Smith Growth Works, a new building, sits at the centre of the feedback, and it is a far from universally popular idea.

It is planned to go somewhere on the huge site that will be created by the demolition of the multi-storey car parks and the gap site left by old swimming pool a decade ago - the prime piece of land the owners of the Mercat Shopping Centre pledged wouldn’t become a white elephant, and then they left it to sit empty and increasingly dishevelled.

The Growth Works is the centrepiece, but one that feels too vaguely defined to gain the all important public support.

I like the concept, but, at this stage it feels a bit ‘all things to all people’ as it tries to tick every box from business hub to community space to learning and maybe even a cafe. Based on what has been described, I’m not sure it passes council leader David Ross’ litmus test when he defined regeneration as “something people can see, feel and be proud of.” I get the logic behind the location The council has the land, it wants diggers and cranes visible as soon as possible, and putting it here avoids us being lumbered with another massive gap site … but didn’t similar thinking lead to a previous administration sticking a £15million leisure centre into a landlocked former car park? We need to learn from past short-sighted easy choices.

Demolishing old buildings long past their use-by date makes sense, but, again, it’s what happens with the sites that is important. We already have one ghastly makeshift car park where The Postings once stood - we don’t need another.

If one thing emerged from the drop-in sessions, it’s that people have questions, and concerns, and the onus is firmly on the council to address them - and it needs to do it plain language that makes sense, so let’s ditch the planning jargon and cooncil speak (”linear waterfront park” anyone?), and paint a compelling picture of how this masterplan will deliver genuine change.

It is crucial we invest this £20million with conviction, be bold and ambitious. In that respect, I suspect critics and champions of the masterplan have more in common than they may think in that, both want to see changes that will transform the town centre and give it the vibrancy it is so badly lacking right now.

Amby Stanyer Hunter’s petition described the masterplan as “a pile of nonsense” but he also said: “This is a golden opportunity for Kirkcaldy to truly transform its High Street into something vibrant and beneficial for all.”

Maybe we need to apply an Amby Test to everything going forward…