Published: Thursday, 21st August, 2008 8:55am

Middlebank Wildlife Centre to close

by Gary Fitzpatrick

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THE world-renowned Middlebank Wildlife Centre in Dunfermline, which has nursed sick and injured animals back to health for over 20 years, is set to close.

The Scottish SPCA plans to move its rescue and recuperation facilities to a new 180-acre site it has purchased at Castleton Farm, near Dollar.

If planning permission is granted, the Middlebank services, which include the UK"s second largest seal rehabilitation unit, would be switched to the new location.

SSPCA spokesperson Jo Wilson said, 'The new facility will be a comprehensive wildlife centre for all British wildlife. The aim is to expand and enhance the facilities we offer.

'It would be a shame to lose Middlebank as it"s been there for over 20 years but needs have changed over the years.

'The new centre would be on a 180-acre site compared to around ten acres at Middlebank. The new location is also away from main roads and away from any resulting noise.'

Middlebank currently has eight full-time workers and three volunteers.

During a previous closure threat in 2003 – then caused by a cash crisis at the charity – Press readers backed our "Don"t Let it Die" campaign and raised thousands to help win a reprieve.

The new closure plan, however, is under quite different circumstances but many in West Fife will be sad to see the facility go.

The work done in returning oiled and hurt animals to good health and releasing them back to the wild has been a source of local pride and at the time of the previous closure threat 12,000 names were gathered on a petition to save it.

Opened in 1986, Middlebank is the society"s only centre for wild animals and the only oiled bird cleaning centre in the country.

Over the years, it has gained an international reputation for its work in saving stricken wildlife following oil spillage disasters.

Birds, foxes, swans, otters, hedgehogs, owls, buzzards, bats, peacocks and even a pelican have all benefited from expert treatment at the centre.

There are also seals at the facility.

Although in the countryside, Middlebank"s location has not always been ideal. In 2006, the centre claimed noise from a nearby taxi business was frightening animals and endangering their lives. Despite the SSPCA"s concerns, the business was granted permission to continue operating.