Broomhead flat plans lodged
Published 28 Jun 2012 09:30
19 Comments
PLANS have been lodged to begin the first stage in the £5.1m redevelopment of Dunfermline's crumbling Broomhead flats.
The three high-rise blocks were saved from demolition earlier this year after councillors approved a £5.1million renovation plan to give the flats a facelift.
The revamp was the cheapest of five options considered - in comparison, demolishing the three blocks and building new ones containing 160 homes would have cost cash-strapped Fife Council £16 million.
The initial proposals which affect the Red block include external insulation, balcony and walkway enclosures, a communal area, two wheelchair adapted flats & an improved entrance foyer.
Proposals for the other two blocks will be brought forward later this year, with a view to all works being completed by 2015. The renovation plans promise a further 30 years of use for the flats.
This article appeared in Dunfermline Press 28 Jun 12
Have your say. Post a comment on this article.
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MrsScottsWeeLaddie
48 posts
Jun 28, 15:24
Report commentShould have just knocked these eye sores down!
Recommend?
Yes 25
No 5
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hidinidentity
10 posts
Jun 28, 15:29
Report commentthey should be knocked down u sit n moan that we have no money no wondering ur rebuilding buildings not even worth it . they should be knocked down and something decent put in place
Recommend? Yes 16
No 6
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maclam
317 posts
Jun 28, 17:55
Report commentthey should have been better maintained regularly and tenants better monitored regarding behaviour and suitability for tenancy right from the start.
Recommend? Yes 12
No 2
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vinoboy35
70 posts
Jun 28, 21:51
Report commentWhere would we put the folk who live in these blocks if we knocked them down ? Not that many empty council houses in Dunfermline.In ideal world yes I agree knock them down but as few council homes have been built this past 30 years and many sold ,bit of an awkward situation.
Recommend? Yes 2
No 6
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Grevillea
1 post
Jun 29, 02:16
Report commentI live in Australia today and I am absolutely appalled that Plans for these housing blocks, were ever passed as satisfactory by Planning and Building Authorities. Aesthetically, they are ugly horrendous structures. Would those who approved and planned their development live in such a truly terrible situation? Such living conditions are a breeding ground for mental illness and subsequently slum conditions.
Scotland has plenty of beautiful countryside which should be acquisitioned for development. It is wonderful to have such countryside but quite wicked to know it could be available, ignoring the potential to allow people to live healthily and decently. Consideration should have been applied, where the "garden city" idea has been so successfully carried out in various areas of Rosyth, where cottage style dwellings with gardens to front and rear were developed and also making it possible for people to purchase homes they can be proud to live in.
Canberra, where I am grateful to have lived for most of my life, is a fine example of modern living for 400,000 people. An inland city, with man made lakes and quite spacious cottage style dwellings prove that the abortions of high rise suffering should be a thing of the past and should never to be considered as part of any future living conditions anywhere in the UK.
Recommend? Yes 4
No 2
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hidinidentity
10 posts
Jun 29, 10:10
Report commentwho cares where they would live, theyr are plenty of old buildings worth keepin that can easily be transformed into respectable flats that are worth keeping fife is nothing but a dump they should get rid of buildings not worth maintaning and build some thing worth while maybe then will fife start to attract some tourists etc
Recommend? Yes 8
No 5
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AS
6 posts
Jun 29, 11:16
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Chromedome
17 posts
Jun 29, 11:35
Report commentThere's a lot of (may I say very easy) negativity about these blocks which, as a former tenant of Broomhead Drive I can't really agree with. hidinidentity maintains that "its mainly junkies that live theyr". Not true. The vast majority of neighbours I met were downright decent people making their way in life the best way they could. When you consider that each of these blocks was the equivalent of a vertical street in terms of number of houses, and then look at the percentage of bad tenants compared with other areas of Dunfermline I think it would work out about the same to be honest. The problem arises in the layout of the buildings, where antisocial behaviour in one flat can *directly* affect 8 other flats and hence have a disproportionate effect.
I have to agree that maintenance on the blocks could have been better, but we're dealing with system-built high rise blocks from an era when even when they were new the construction was a bit dubious. Age has not helped.
vinoboy35 made some constructive points re the cost/benefit and the ability of Fife Council to relocate tenants to an increasingly slender housing resource.
Recommend? Yes 7
No 2
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DunfermlineEast
137 posts
Jun 29, 12:20
Report commentThe problem with refurbishing such undesirable properties with inherent problems is that all you are doing is postponing, at great cost, the inevitability of their demolition.
If demolition was chosen, as it ought to, then I doubt if all the current residents need council housing. It is high time that council housing was for the neediest, not for anyone wanting a cheap rent.
Recommend? Yes 11
No 1
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Dunfy4Eva
2 posts
Jun 29, 13:08
Report commentThere was an online petition set up a few months ago to knock these flats down. The last time I checked there were only about 60 signatures on it. There is NO POINT in people saying "Fife Council should knock the flats down" and "why renovate? Knock them down!" when they don't actually do something.
An online petition is a powerful tool in this day and age. If enough signatures were gathered the Council would have to reconsider their renovation program for the flats.
I signed the petition but I guarantee that most of the people commenting on this thread haven't.
FYI, the petition URL is:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/demolish-broomhead-flats-dunfermline/
Recommend? Yes 1
No 3
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redrobin
285 posts
Jun 29, 14:24
Report commentGrevillea..so we should develop our beautiful countryside should we?!....ur arguement is to say the least.... ignorant....expect when it does not go right for u in Aussie you will come home demanding this demanding that but not prepared to pay for it currently.....suggest u make real friends with skippy cos u will not have many here with ur attitude
Recommend? Yes 0
No 9
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bicyclebob
159 posts
Jun 29, 20:09
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AS
6 posts
Jun 29, 21:35
Report commentNever mind them - what's going on with the old Dunlop factory? Can the council do something to push that along or is it a private owner that's not moving forward with it. It's making Dunfermline a contender for the plook on the plinth award?
Recommend? Yes 7
No 1
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vinoboy35
70 posts
Jun 30, 13:04
Report commentThe old dunlop factory is in private ownership and it's planning consent went through Council a few months ago . Council's as far as I know have no powers to compel owners to do very much apart form health and safety in relation to being possibly in a dangerous condition.
Recommend? Yes 3
No 0
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AS
6 posts
Jun 30, 17:30
Report commentThanks for update Vinoboy. It is an absolute eyesore and it's turned Pilmuir St into a slum. Hopefully whatever is supposed to be happening with it will move on sooner rather than later.
Recommend? Yes 3
No 0
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HughJeego
46 posts
Jul 2, 12:08
Report commentDidn't we refurbish the high flats in Kincardine a few years back, using the same financial arguements, but then went and blew two of them up anyway?
Recommend? Yes 5
No 0
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Jayc182
62 posts
Jul 3, 00:11
Report commentAre you lot mad?, or just never happy.
If Fife council announced they were knocking them down, it would be greeted with joy from you lot of moaning idiots. However all those tenants would need to be re-homed right?. So, eventually, Fife council would have to build hundreds of new homes at a cost of millions of pounds, far far more than the £5.1 million renovation.
So in time, you lot of moaning idiots would go berserk to read that the former residents of broom head flats would be housed in these brand new homes.
Put simply folks, the council is spending the absolute minimum and not a penny more. But you lot are never happy are you.
Recommend? Yes 2
No 6
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hidinidentity
10 posts
Jul 4, 10:53
Report commentlike a said no one would care where they go. end of the day theyr still going to be building more houses anyway so no need to moan about that.
the council dnt care what opinions we have to share as long as theyr gettiing paid why should they bother about our opinions theyll go ahead n do it anyway
Recommend? Yes 0
No 0
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monkees4va
1 post
Sep 20, 15:03
Report commentAs a soon to be tenant of these buildings some of the attitudes towards them disgust me. I am a full time student also working 20 hours a week to survive, living there is all I can afford after tax. Yet people act like I have fleas when they find out I'm moving there. I don't have a drug problem, and neither do the majority of tenants. I am simply a young adult trying to better myself with education. Most of the middle-class twally brains that seem to think its the breeding ground for crime need to actually experience the working class lifestyle before making snap judgements.
Recommend? Yes 0
No 0
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