By Craig Smith

KIRKCALDY COUNCILLORS have stopped short of giving a firm commitment to becoming part of the new Edinburgh Strategic Development Plan (SDP) area.

SDPs are being created for the four city regions—Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow—to replace the existing structure plans, with Fife in the position of being included within the strategic planning areas for two cities, Edinburgh and Dundee.

Inclusion within the boundaries is only for the purpose of strategic land use planning and although Fife is likely to be part of two city regions, Fife will still retain responsibility for strategic planning—albeit through joint working arrangements.

Councillors across the region are being asked for their comments on what areas of Fife should be included in either SDP, if any.

But while Kirkcaldy area committee members appeared to be swaying towards inclusion in the Edinburgh SDP individually, the committee concluded that it did not have enough information to take a decisive viewpoint as a whole.

Councillor David Ross summed up the mood when he said he was still unsure about the situation.

“I can see a lot of sense in the city region approach but I’m not clear yet where we should be sitting,” he said.

“If we go in with Edinburgh, what are the benefits and will it place constraints on us?

“Is there going to be an impact on investment? We need to get an idea on that before we can make any decision on this.”

Councillors then learned that areas of Fife might be able to stand alone in not joining any SDP, although committee chairwoman Alice Soper warned against this, suggesting that planned projects such as improvements to the Redhouse roundabout and developments at the Leven Energy Park could be jeopardised.

“I think there is more likelihood of those going ahead if we are in the boundary as opposed to us not being in the boundary,” she said.

“Some of the projects might well fade away if we’re not in it.”

In a report to councillors, Sandra Montador-Stewart, development services policy lead officer, said the influence of the city region has had an increasing impact on where people choose to live, work and shop—a situation which has been particularly true for Kirkcaldy.

“The key issue for the Kirkcaldy area committee is whether Kirkcaldy and its surrounding communities should be included in the Edinburgh SDP and the committee is now invited to put forward its view on this issue,” she said.

Despite lengthy discussions on the issue, there was still a strong feeling that councillors had not been given the pros and cons of either joining Edinburgh or standing alone and a committee-wide view was not reached.

Comments are expected to be made by the Glenrothes area committee tomorrow and these, like the Kirkcaldy councillors’ comments, will help shape an official council decision on the proposed boundaries in Fife.

A report detailing Fife’s position is expected to be presented to the council’s strategic planning committee in June.

It is possible that only part of west and mid Fife will be included within the Edinburgh city region framework and only a part of east Fife will be included in the Dundee city region.

However, legislation does not allow for the whole of Fife to be included in one or the other of the SDPs.