People fighting to protect their local park from a care home development have spelled out their feelings on the issue — quite literally.
Locals lay down in Bankie Park and spelled out the shape of the word No for an aerial photograph for the Keep Bankie Park Green campaign.
Part of the Anstruther green could be used to build a care home by Fife Health and Social Care Partnership and Fife Council.
The park has been named the preferred location for a replacement for the nearby Ladywalk Housing care home.
However, the scheme has prompted outrage in the town, where residents have raised funds over the last decade to improve facilities at the park.
The photograph was taken by drone as other campaigners held talks with the partnership’s change manager Vivienne McBride.
Campaign spokesperson Susanne McElhinney said there had been a great show of support for the movement.
She said: “Retaining some green space is so important for the whole community, it’s something that benefits everyone and improves our quality of life.
“There’s no doubt or debate about this, if this construction goes ahead, Anstruther will be left with almost no green space.
“We need to find an alternative among the other sites which were being considered.”
David Heaney, the partnership’s divisional general manager, said: “We acknowledge the concerns that are being raised by the community and want to reassure local people that we are listening.
“We have already received many responses from local residents and we will reflect local concerns back to councillors before any decisions are reached.
“We also want to reassure the public that any proposal to develop a new care home would not impact on the play area, and the majority of the park itself would remain untouched.”
Mr Heaney said Anstruther would not lose out on green space if the scheme went ahead.
“If this option was to be approved, the site of the existing care home, Ladywalk House, would be cleared, landscaped and returned to parkland for community use,” he said.
“The amount of land being used for the new care home would match exactly with the size of the plot at Ladywalk House that would become parkland.
“We will continue to work with local councillors, community representatives and the people of Anstruther through a range of means to respond to local concerns.”
Consultation on the proposal continues until July 27.
