Families lost a hard-fought battle to keep the school open when Fife Council confirmed that Pitcorthie’s doors would close for the final time in August this year.

However, despite there being less than six months to go until the school is shut, parents are still in the dark as to what the future holds for the site and they believe the council should consider the pupils when making a decision.

“They’ve already taken the school from the community, so they really owe us and the children something,” said Shirley MacDonald, a member of the Save Pitcorthie Primary Campaign. “I would like to see at least part of it remain a play space for the kids. We’ve got a great park in Abbeyview but it’s really too far away for some children. We really need that space we’ve got just now.

“We have two trim trails at Pitcorthie and one is only a couple of years old, it’s practically brand-new. The school and the parent council worked hard to raise money for things like this and both trim trails are going to get put to waste if they don’t keep the green space.” One major concern for parents is that the land will redeveloped for housing but as yet there has been no announcement from the council regarding the potential future uses of the site.

“There are always rumours,” said Shirley. “A lot of people have said they think it will go for housing but there’s been nothing official, we’ve not been told what’s going to happen.

“I can’t see how they’d put the building to future use but we’ve not been given any indication that it will be knocked down.” Dunfermline MSP Cara Hilton echoed the importance to preserve the green space at the school and said that parents were “owed their say” after getting a “raw deal” from Fife Council over the closure.

“One of the concerns raised by parents is that the school grounds are the only green space in the area,” she said. “I’d like to see this space protected so that local children can continue to use the play facilities which the late Cllr Mike Rumney secured from the South Ward budget and use the large grassed area to play.

“The last thing we need is for the area to be sold off to a housing developer and this is a big concern for local residents. One of the many reasons I opposed the closure of Pitcorthie was that with the population of this part of Dunfermline growing, I simply don’t believe there is enough capacity in surrounding schools for the number of young families moving into the area needing both school and nursery places.

“The best way forward would be for Fife Council to speak to local parents and get their ideas – Pitcorthie parents have had a raw deal from Fife Council and it’s only fair that they now have their say over this valuable community land.” Fife Council service manager Michael O’Gorman commented, “Disposal of the Pitcorthie site will follow the standard Fife Council procedure. If no alternative council uses are identified then the site will be passed to Asset and Facilities Management Service for disposal. It’s not possible to say how long this will take and what the site will be used for in the future.”