Resurrection of derelict Dunfermline campaign gathers pace.

Moves to achieve charity status for preservation trust

A campaign to resurrect Dunfermline’s derelict buildings is being stepped up amid a “wave of optimism rippling through the town”.

Friends of Dunfermline is hoping to secure charity status for a new Dunfermline Preservation Trust by the end of the year, with the aim of bringing unused landmarks back into use.

The group recently secured grants totalling £6,000 from the Architectural Heritage Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund, which will pay for legal advice and help in setting up a business model.

Architect Sam Foster, from Friends of Dunfermline, said: “There’s a tangible energy in the town at the moment.

“Planning applications are coming through almost weekly and developers are coming in to develop tricky historical buildings.

“There’s a wave of optimism rippling through the town.”

Mr Foster said developments, such as the ongoing transformation of Pilmuir Works into flats, had made “Dunfermline the place to be for the next 30 to 40 years”.

The Friends group is looking at empty buildings, including the former Robins Cinema, and at the feasibility of various options for regeneration.

They hope to have the preservation trust set up by the end of the year and be ready to take on their first restoration project in early 2019.

“Our role will be to take on unloved, empty historical buildings in the town and bring them back into use for whatever the community thinks is appropriate,” said Mr Foster.

One aspiration is to establish a community cinema in the town.

He added: “What’s quite exciting is there seems to be a big appetite for a small cinema in Dunfermline.”

The Friends took part in the Design Dunfermline event in April, which gave residents a chance to have their say on how they saw the future of the town.

Mr Foster said getting more people living in the town centre and finding alternative uses for vacant shops were among the ideas for regeneration.

“There were other ideas about making much more from the fact Dunfermline is the historical capital of Scotland,” he said.

There’s a wave of optimism rippling through the town. ARCHITECT SAM FOSTER