Businesses in Leven claim roadworks on Commercial Road are causing chaos – with workers digging into the cellar of a pizza restaurant.
The roadworks are under way in a bid to improve access and encourage more pupils to walk to school.
But while they welcome the improvements, local business owners have hit out at the council over how the work has been carried out.
Ewan Brown of Base Restaurant on Commercial Road says the work has left him about £5,000 out of pocket so far, after he had to shut.
‘They burst into our cellar’
He said: “We had to close completely for two days. We didn’t know the roadworks were happening, and they just appeared one day and blocked off our door.
“When they started to rip up the pavement, all the rubble that was lifted was sucked into our kitchen through the intake fans.
“I don’t think they had plans to know what was under the pavement because they burst into our cellar.”
Ewan, who opened the restaurant in 2019, claims workers put a piece of hard plastic over the hole to secure it but didn’t make it watertight.
He said: “They placed hard plastic over the hole to secure it but when the thunderstorms hit [the water] just poured into the cellar onto my CCTV equipment, which I’ve had to replace.”
Rebecca Moncrieff, who opened her homeware shop Khee in the Fife town just four weeks ago, has also been impacted by the Leven roadworks.
She said: “I’ve only been open for four weeks, so I don’t have much history to go, but once they started digging my footfall fell by half.
“I’m a new business and I need as much support as I can get. I’m on the opposite side of the street, but when it comes over here the worry is no one will come in at all.
“It’s been a couple of weeks already, and it will be one or two more until there is a proper pavement.
“There has just been no communication.”
Eddie Young, who runs Motor Fits alongside his daughter Julie, has also criticised the way the work had been carried out.
He said: “It’s affected us very badly, folk can hardly get in. Very shortly it’s going to be even worse, we’ll probably have to close for two or three days.
“I don’t think they’ve thought about us at all in the planning of this.”
Khee owner Rebecca says the street’s residents could have suggested ways to minimise the impact if they had been contacted before roadworks started.
She added: “In my opinion, there are things that could have been done to make things easier – like longer working hours.
“They should also have phased it, doing one part of the street at the time. There’s also not a ‘businesses open as usual’ sign at either end of the street.”
Jenny Gilruth, Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP, says the execution of the work has been “woeful”.
She said: “While the aims behind the roadworks at Commercial Road are to be welcomed, their execution has been woeful and the situation has adversely affected several of our local businesses in Leven.
“Disappointingly, Fife Council appears to have provided no notice of the works to local businesses and have been too slow to respond to concerns about safety, access, damage to property, and drop in customer footfall as a result.
“There are serious questions around the timing of this work, the council’s communication with local businesses and the pace at which the work is being undertaken that need to be addressed.
“After enduring a difficult year due to the Covid pandemic, this disruption is the last thing these businesses need and I hope the council will now move quickly to redress the situation.”
Fife Council has apologised for any short-term inconvenience but insists there are benefits to the Leven roadworks.
Bill Liddle, transportation service manager with Fife Council, said: “We’re currently carrying out roadworks at Commercial Road and the adjacent Aiken Street to improve access and safety, and to encourage more pupils to walk to school.
Fife Council ‘apologises for inconvenience’
“Commercial Road is being upgraded as part of a Scottish Government project to enhance the area around the shops and create wider, more accessible footways.
“Commercial Road has seen several new businesses open complementing existing ones. By improving the area, we hope to increase footfall and the safety for those using these businesses.
“We’re in discussions with the contractors to ensure adequate and appropriate signs are in place to make it as easy as possible for people to use the shops.
“We’ll monitor this closely and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause in the short term.”