WEST Fifers are due an update on Dunfermline’s ill-fated £35 million flood prevention scheme, according to one local councillor.

Dunfermline Central councillor Neale Hanvey told the Press this week of his frustration that news of the controversial project – years late, massively over budget and mired in legal disputes – was not available to local residents.

Discussions did take place at a meeting of Fife Council’s executive committee on Tuesday but they were held in private so members of the public and media could not attend.  

A spokesperson for Fife Council told the Press that their chief legal officer updated members on the “ongoing litigation” related to the scheme.

Cllr Hanvey, who previously demanded a full review and apology from Fife Council for the project, said: “It is very frustrating as everyone is wanting answers. 

“I continue to make the case that residents deserve answers but we have to continue to hear it in private and I have to respect the decision of officers to put it in private.

“I hope at some point we will have arrived at the position where we are able to discuss what is happening.

“People are still not happy – it is something that has cost £35m when it was supposed to cost less than £10m.”

When the scheme was first announced in the Press in October 2003, Fife Council’s initial estimate for the work was £3.75m, with the two-year project due to start in April 2005 and completed by 2007.

The cost rose to £9.77m in November 2005 and the start date was pushed back a second time to May 2007.

It was eventually completed in 2015 at a cost of around £35m. 

The flood prevention scheme was designed to minimise the risk of flooding to 175 homes and businesses near the Lyne, Tower and Calais burns from Brucefield to the McKane Park area.

The work, which was contracted to Byzak Ltd, caused anger, disruption and frustration for residents who lost land and access to their gardens for years. 
It also caused traffic misery in the area. 

The firm took legal action after they were ditched as contractors in 2014. 

The council also began a £9.8m court action against the project 
designers, Atkins, in December 2013.

The contract with Byzak was terminated but an independent adjudicator ruled in July 2014 that termination was invalid and the firm was entitled to receive damages from the council.

In August last year, the Press reported that residents were concerned that a “constantly clogged” drain in the Glen was risking a flood due to a lack of maintenance and their fears came true in November when heavy rain saw Forth Street submerged in fast-flowing water. 

Further improvement to prevention measures were promised after the flooding led to the collapse of a stone wall and railings at Milton Green/Lovers Loan which damaged two cars.