Rubbish bins which sit outside the gates of one of Scotland’s most important cultural sites will at last be hidden from view, after what a councillor described as a lengthy saga.
Commercial bins from neighbouring premises are left at the main access to Dunfermline Abbey, which is the burial place of Robert the Bruce and attracts about 20,000 visitors a year.
Dunfermline Central councillor Bob Young said creation of a bin store was in the pipeline when he was re-elected in 2012.
He said: “We’ve managed to build half of Dunfermline eastern expansion in the time it has taken to build this bin store.”
Fife Council’s City of Dunfermline Area Committee approved a grant of £42,000 for the bin store between the City Chambers and the Old Inn, on Kirkgate, in the historic heart of the town.
The structure was supposed to have been included in the refurbishment of the City Chambers, which was completed in April 2013.
However, it was set back by a change of design and a delay in receiving approval from Historic Scotland.
There was an objection to a proposal to site the store closer to the pub, however, it is instead to be erected on the City Chambers side of the gap site.
The cost is also more than double than originally quoted, at £18,000.
It was stated the project had previously not been fully costed.
Mr Young said: “Nearly three years on and it’s only getting resolved now.
“It should have been the easiest thing in the world to do but it’s been quite a saga.
“I’m pleased to say the money is there now and we can get on and get this finished. One bin sits outside the abbey gates all the time and it’s unsightly. Others sometimes sit for a couple of days.”
Six commercial bins will be housed in a freestanding steel cage on a platform accessed at street level.
It is intended to begin work later this month and complete the project before the end of March and the start of the tourist season.
Picture by David Wardle