Call to remove automatic bollard from Kirkcaldy High Street after paramedics access delay

It comes after an ambulance crew was unable to lower it because they reportedly did not have the code, and were delayed attending to a woman in her 70s after she fell because of a missing Scottish Water drain cover which had been reported for over a year. Her walking stick went into the hole, and she fell over, injuring her knee and shoulder. The hazard has now been covered up.

Councillor Kathleen Leslie is writing to Fife Council to ask for a guarantee that the access code is available to all emergency services which need it.

She said she was shocked at what happened, and added: "Automatic bollards may be a great idea in high traffic busy areas but not on the High Street.”

Fife Council has said codes and guidance were given to all emergency services before the bollard became operational in December. It said it would follow up to ensure there were no further issues.

The matter was first highlighted on the Love Kirkcaldy Facebook page, which was set up to champion and promote the town.

Colin Salmond-Wallace, who runs it, wrote: “The ambulance duly arrived 40 minutes after the first phone call only to be turned away at the automatic bollard on the High Street because it was after 11am by this point. They had to reverse out and come round via Tolbooth Street to get to us because they didn’t have a code for the bollard. If we had been dealing with a cardiac incident or a stroke that further delay could quite easily have been catastrophic. The state of the High Street is becoming increasingly hard to defend; it is scruffy and unkempt and it’s really starting to feel like no one care.”

Cllr Leslie wants to see a different approach to managing traffic in the pedestrianised zone - which has been a problem for many years.

"Part of me is not surprised the bollard code was not available because, like so much else with the town centre, the council has either been making poor decisions for years or failing to take any action” she said. “I remember when these bollards were being installed I thought it was a completely crazy idea. Whilst some councillors thought they would be wonderful and solve all sorts of problems with people driving when they were not to, all I could see were further restrictions on people accessing the High Street by vehicle who may need to for a very good reason.

“The question around everyone having a code should an emergency happen was also one I had queried. However, as is often the case, we were told it would all be okay. It is all very well the Council saying everyone who needs to have the code has it. Had this been a life or death emergency or a building been on fire - what then?

Just like the absolute fiasco of traffic wardens slapping fines on anyone daring to pay to go to the theatre, this is another in a long line of poor decisions. My view is, get rid of the bollards or find a better solution. I will be writing to the Council today to ask for that guarantee on the availability of the code."

Sara Wilson, service manager for Fife Council’s roads network management confirmed that all emergency services were provided with the code with clear guidance before the bollard became operational.

She added: “We will check in with the ambulance service to find out what happened in this instance and help make sure there are no continuing issues. In an emergency the code is also available through our Contact Centre and other emergency contacts."