Urgent work to start on building in Fife town centre deemed dangerous

Fife Council is taking action to protect the public following survey work on a building in Cupar’s Bonnygate, which confirms the building is immediately dangerous.

Work to repair the frontage of the category C listed building, above William Hill bookmaker is to start next week.

The Bonnygate will work as a single lane for traffic and temporary traffic lights will be in place from Monday morning (December 9). These will be manually operated during the day to help keep traffic flowing. It’s hoped the emergency repair work will take no more than four or five days to complete.

The council’s head of protective services Nigel Kerr explained: “We have been monitoring this building and discussing the necessary repair work with the owners. Based on the most recent information we have from engineers, the dangerous state of the building means we are stepping in now to take emergency action and keep people safe. It will be the owner's responsibility to carry out more permanent repairs next year.

“The Bonnygate is a busy street for vehicles and pedestrians and any masonry falling from this building could cause someone serious injury. The safety of the public has to be our first priority."

With Christmas just around the corner the council will be doing everything possible to keep any disruption in the town centre to a minimum.

Mr Kerr added: "We understand this is a particularly busy time of year for the town, so we'll be doing our best to make sure these repairs are carried out as quickly, and with as little disruption as possible. I'd like to thank people for their patience and understanding while the work is going on."

The council will be communicating directly with affected residents and businesses to let them know what’s planned.