Storm forces Kirkcaldy sea defences back on agenda
The flooding that hit Kirkcaldy Esplanade during the storms this week is once again sparking calls for the town's coastal defences to be shored up sooner rather than later.
Waves pounding Kirkcaldy seawall on Tuesday in a picture by Courier reader Norma Rutherford.
- Published in the Courier : 31.03.10
- Published online : 04.04.10 @ 01.19pm
Not for the first time in recent years, the combination of the high tide, heavy rain and windy weather whipped waves up and over on to the Esplanade itself, forcing the authorities to close the road on Tuesday evening.
Flooding also affected signalling on the main east coast railway at Burntisland, hitting train services between Inverkeithing and Kirkcaldy.
The state of the sea wall has long caused concern among residents and particularly local businesses, with the assets landward of the sea wall valued at around £87 million in a marine consultant's report published just over two years ago.
That report concluded that the sea wall had a residual life of less than five years and was in danger of breaching in three places, although town councillors were assured that the structure is regularly monitored and ad hoc repairs carried out until a prolonged period of work could begin.
New swimming pool
Although the local authority has allocated more than £7 million of capital funding to the project, The Courier revealed last month that the defences are not expected to be completed until around 2014 — and certainly not in time for the opening of the new swimming pool anticipated on the Tolbooth Street car park site late next year.
It emerged that the design and building contract for the sea wall is only expected to go out to tender some time in the summer, although an environmental assessment will have to be carried out to minimise the impact on wildlife.
However, those investigations could delay the work substantially, while a licence from Marine Scotland will also have to be secured as the project involves the deposition of rock on the beach.
As well as the new pool overlooking the Forth, there are also plans to expand the Mercat shopping centre — although these are likely to be unachievable unless the coastal defences are improved in time.
