A call has been made for a deep clean of Kirkcaldy’s high street.
The pedestrian area has been branded a mess less than two years after £2 million was spent on repaving it and upgrading the streetscape.
Kirkcaldy West Community Council chairman David Henderson said the state of High Street did nothing to promote Kirkcaldy.
His comments came as he asked Fife councillors if any of the short-term activities identified in an action plan last year had actually been achieved.
A number of proposals were made during an Ambitions event in June, during which business people and other interested parties were asked how they would like to see Kirkcaldy improved.
Mr Henderson questioned if any physical evidence of improvement could be seen so far.
He said: “A week before we embarked on this exercise last year, I did a patrol of the pedestrianised area with a member of the environmental staff.
“When I saw the ambitions set down, I had great hopes that the pedestrian part of the High Street would get a real good clean- up.”
Mr Henderson claimed the street had been left in a mess by the contractors carrying out the streetscape works, adding: “It was never properly sealed and never properly completed.
“It’s green with algae. We already have a green corridor and we don’t need another one along the High Street. The street furniture is falling apart. It’s rusting already. That is certainly not value for the Fife pound.
“Twenty thousand pounds was allocated in the first report to do something for the High Street and this is what my community council would like to see as soon as possible.
“It wouldn’t take much more than a man with a spray hose to clean the mess away.”
Fife Council Kirkcaldy area committee chairman Neil Crooks said he agreed with Mr Henderson.
“The cleaning side has been under discussion for quite some time,” he said.
Kirkcaldy area services manager Danny Cepok said a number of priorities had been highlighted during last year’s meeting but admitted some things were taking longer than anticipated to come to fruition.
“They need a bit of money but we’re working towards that,” he said.
“We do get a bit despondent at times but we’ve just got to keep working at it and hopefully people will see things materialise this year.”
Mr Cepok said the aim was to create a High Street fit for the 21st Century.
“We’re not going to have the same kind of high street we had in the 60s, 70s and 80s,” he said.
“There are a lot of people coming together to achieve that ambition.”
He pointed out that a number of initiatives had already had a degree of success, such as a scheme to provide free parking in the esplanade car park after 3pm in the run up to Christmas.
“It was pretty well used and it increased footfall through the Mercat,” he said.
In addition, lighting was provided to approve the appearance of the unsightly multi-storey car park during the darker nights and work is continuing to tackle derelict properties.
The return of the Halfords cycle tour and motorcycle sand racing on the beach will also help attract visitors, as will the opening of the refurbished library and art gallery, and the new Kirkcaldy leisure centre.