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£1 million plan to breathe new life into ‘failing’ Kinross

Eileen Thomas and Ken Miles from the Kinross-shire Civic Trust outside the meeting.
Eileen Thomas and Ken Miles from the Kinross-shire Civic Trust outside the meeting.

One million pounds will be spent to rejuvenate the heart of Kinross in a bid to breathe new life into the “failing town”.

Businesses are struggling and visitor numbers are low despite the success of nearby attractions such as Loch Leven.

After years of discussions and plans, a package of works will finally be rolled out to address the problem over an intensive six-month period.

The improvement plan was unanimously backed by councillors in the belief that it will bring economic benefit and return vibrancy to Kinross.

They took that decision despite receiving more than 80 letters of objection from members of the community.

Individuals and groups had told Perth and Kinross Council the plans were not right for the town and could actually have a detrimental impact on residents, businesses and safety.

Their concerns were not, however, enough to dissuade elected members from agreeing the plan.

Councillor Willie Robertson thanked the scheme’s opponents for their comments, saying it reflected their “passion” for the town and their wish to protect and enhance its built environment.

He went on to say, however: “I have been a councillor for Kinross-shire for many years and we have long worked to make improvements to the town centre.

“An initial Kinross strategy failed because we could not take the traffic out of the town centre.

“We campaigned successfully for a relief road and then for a visitor attraction, with Loch Leven and its heritage trail now attracting 250,000 visitors a year.

“I see this plan as the next step in our efforts to bring Kinross into the 21st Century and I believe it will make a big difference to our county town.”

Committee convener Tom Gray echoed Mr Robertson’s comments, saying: “We want to help Kinross thrive.”

The improvements will see bus stops moved, new street furniture and plants introduced, pavements widened and new parking created to make the centre more attractive and visitor friendly.

Many of those steps have proved contentious, as has the plan to introduce “shared space”, with kerbs removed and road and pavement le=velled.

The council believes that will create a welcoming pedestrian area though vehicles will still be able to travel the length of the high street. Even so, councillors are confident that safety will not be affected and that motorists will begin to use alternative routes, such as the town bypass.

After the meeting disappointed Kinross-shire Civic Trust chair Eileen Thomas said she hoped councillors would be proved correct.

“The civic trust really does want to see improvements made to Kinross town centre, which has been failing for some time,” she said.

“We just felt that there were problems with several aspects of the plans put forward and that consultation was not what it could have been.

“We will just have to see if the plans deliver to Kinross the rejuvenation it does need and I hope that councillors are right that this will ultimately benefit the town.”

“Businesses in Kinross are struggling and they do need help but that is also the reason why months of disruption and the loss of convenient on-street parking are such concerns.

“If these proposals result in greater footfall in the future that will be great but there are certainly short-term concerns.

“We may see a situation similar to that experienced by Edinburgh during the tram works, where businesses closed down before the pain was over.”

She said she hoped the council would learn lessons from the process that could be transferred to future consultations.

“A large public meeting would be a better forum for helping people to understand the plans and make their opinions known,” she said.