The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Care home residents suffering due to badly potholed road in Fife
Rough surface makes travelling along road too uncomfortable
Potholes are putting off potential visitors to a Fife nursing home, it is claimed.
The access route to the West Park home in Leslie has become so badly pitted that relatives and friends say they are finding it too difficult or painful to travel there.
A member of staff recently broke her arm when she tripped in a hole as she walked to work along Walkerton Drive.
The road is unadopted so Fife Council says it is not responsible for its maintenance.
However, home owner Irene Bright says the title deeds show the householders who live on it are not responsible either.
She and residents have been pressing the council to carry out repairs, which have been estimated at around £60,000.
Relatives are urging the authority to show mercy on their loved ones, regardless of who owns the route.
Esther McLaren said her father George Brown had been forced to reduce his visits to her mother Margaret, 92, as he finds it too painful to be driven and it is too far and rough to walk.
She said: “There are more potholes than there is road surface.
“My dad is 91 this year and when I drive him up there he is in agony.
“We have had to cut his visits down to once a week.
“There’s another lady who is 89 or 90 and she can’t risk taking her car up there. She’s having to pay for taxis to visit.
“There are elderly people visiting their spouses who are struggling to get there and residents are suffering as a result.”
Irene said her business was unable to take on the cost of resurfacing the road, even if it was her responsibility.
She said: “I feel for the residents. Fife Council places people with us and if they have to go anywhere in an ambulance they have to use this bumpy road, it’s awful.”
Fife Council said it had recently assessed the condition of the road and was considering options to help the home users. However, it said it could not confirm at this stage whether it would be able to carry out short-term repairs.