WORKING hours on a project to remove radiation from a polluted beach area at Dalgety Bay could be extended if a planning application lodged with Fife Council is successful.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), part of the Ministry of Defence, has asked to modify planning conditions which will allow it to amend onsite hours and the extent of works permissible beyond September.

Work began last May and is due to re-start in the Spring however hours are currently limited to Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm.

The application seeks to amend this timescale on specific dates to 8pm and allow Saturday working from 8am to 3pm. A planning statement for the DIO said the changes would increase flexibility to ensure that the works continue efficiently.

“The aim is to ensure they are completely as quickly as possible in the interests of protecting public health,” it said. “The aim is to ensure the planning permission is flexible enough to help the project achieve this goal without detriment to the local community through significant loss of amenity and ensure the function of the sailing club is not significantly impacted.

“The reason for the change is that during the course of the seasonal works, the ability to work on the foreshore will be affected by the tide.

"At certain times, the high tide will greatly reduce the hours available for working between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday.

“Along with this, the lost hours during the Covid-19 restrictions on the construction industry has resulted in a lot more lost time on the project than envisaged.

“To balance these lost hours, the tide times have been examined and and dates where there are sufficient low tides to allow Saturday working and working beyond 6pm have been identified.

“While these times could be agreed prior to each event, in the interest of the project being transparent and working constructively with the council and the public, it is considered important that this is agreed prior to the working season.”

Radioactive material was first detected on Dalgety Bay foreshore in 1990 and came from Second World War planes which had aircraft dials coated in a luminous paint containing radium-226 to help pilots see in the dark.

The dangers of radiation poisoning weren’t known at the time and, after the war, the planes were broken up and burned at Donibristle airbase, with the resultant ash and clinker dumped along the foreshore.

More than 3,000 radioactive particles have been found at the beach, in nearby gardens and next to Dalgety Bay Sailing Club, and restrictions were put in place in 2011, with parts of the beach fenced off and fishing banned.

Remediation includes excavating areas of the foreshore, replacing rock armour around the headland and installing a new slipway for the Dalgety Bay Sailing Club – stopping erosion and preventing public access to any remaining contamination.

Due to birds coming to the shore for winter, work is only allowed between Spring and September.

The DIO added: “One of the main constraints for working on the foreshore is ensuring that any excavations are filled in and sediment removed before the tide returns so that contaminants are not released into the sea.

“The extension of time as outlined would provide that additional working hours to allow these operations to be fully complete and increase the number of times the foreshore can be worked in the working season.”