Kirkcaldy schools face catchment zone shake-up – these streets are affected

Fife Council’s cabinet committee has unanimously agreed to kickstart a public consultation on the proposed changes which will affect families in a number of streets. The move comes in a bid to address capacity issues should any future residential developments in the town centre come to the table.

Donald Macleod, Fife’s executive director education, said the shake-up was necessary because the popular West is already over capacity, and likely to be impacted by even more new housing developments in the Lang Toun in the near future.

“Currently within Kirkcaldy town centre area, there are several development sites which would impact on capacity available at Kirkcaldy West Primary School,” Shelagh McLean, head of service for the education directorate, told the committee. “These brownfield sites provide an opportunity to regenerate the town centre and provide much needed housing to sustain the market supply across Fife. However, the school role at Kirkcaldy West Primary School means it has already been operating above capacity.”

The West is already using a multi-purpose room and a staff room to accommodate students, and the present situation has forced the education service to put the brakes on any local development plans within the catchment area.

“There have been no opportunities for any local development plan sites to be supported for development within the Kirkcaldy West catchment area without having a direct impact on pupil number projections,” Ms McLean said. “There is no space within the existing site to provide additional accommodation without having a significant impact on learning or teaching for existing pupils.”

However, within the town centre, there is a desire to redevelop a number of brownfield sites to enable its regeneration. The education service believes a review will help the council meet its objectives and make that a reality.

Overall, the proposal is to re-zone the catchment areas of Kirkcaldy West and Dunnikier from July 2025. Families living in Whytescauseway, Whytehouse Avenue, Park Place, part of the High Street and part of Abbotshall Road could all be affected with their children going to Dunnikier instead of the West in the future.

“I know from speaking to elected members in Kirkcaldy that they are generally pleased to see this review come forward,” education spokesperson Cara Hilton (Labour) said. “I hope it speeds up the potential to regenerate Kirkcaldy and bring on much needed new housing in the town centre.”

Councillor Kathleen Leslie, education scrutiny committee convener, agreed: “I think this is a positive given that any development in Kirkcaldy town centre we should certainly welcome,” she said.

The council will launch a public consultation followed by a report which, if approved in full, would see the implemented from Friday July 4 and would apply to all applications for enrolment, including placing requests, made from that date.

The education service will hold two public meetings. The first will be held at Kirkcaldy West Primary School on Monday, February 3 from 6:00-7:00pm. The second will be held at Dunnikier Primary School on Monday, February 10 between the same times.

The consultation will close on March 7, and a final report will be published on May 6. Councillors are expected to debate the matter and make a final decision at a cabinet meeting on May 29.