PLANS for eight huge advertising signs at the side of the Pilmuir Works building in Dunfermline town centre have been knocked back by Fife Council.

Consent had been sought by Stirling-based City Scape Media to erect the non-illuminated, free-standing hoardings which would each have been three metres high and six metres wide.

The proposals were not part of the recent application for the dilapidated, listed building which could see the site being redeveloped to form residential and retail units.

In a report by Fife Council planners, it was deemed that the signs would not be in keeping with the historic building.

“The proposal site is within the curtilage of Pilmuir and St Margaret’s Works, a category A-listed building and a prominent building on the edge of Dunfermline town centre across the road from the northern edge of Dunfermline Conservation Area,” stated the report.

“The boards are proposed to stand behind a well-built feature boundary wall to the Pilmuir site. The building represents an important part of Dunfermline’s heritage.

“Elements such as signage and advertising can have a fundamental role in defining the character and quality of an area. The advertisement boards proposed would be prominent from Carnegie Drive, Dunfermline’s main thoroughfare and an important Fife tourist route.

“The proposal, it is considered, due to the bold size and a number of boards, would detract from, and even be detrimental to, the character and setting of this A-listed building, detracting from how the town respects the adjacent Dunfermline Conservation Area.”

The report added that the boards would “largely obscure” the Pilmuir Works building from view and have a “significant adverse impact” on the visual amenity of the surrounding area.

It was also felt that traffic in Carnegie Drive and Pilmuir Street would be worsened by the additions of the signs.

“Introducing large areas of advertising to the area creates distraction from the historic qualities of the area and distraction to pedestrians and drivers, rendering the area less attractive and potentially more dangerous,” added the report.