A councillor has criticised the decision to close so many of Fife’s historic attractions at the same time as ‘short-sighted’, reports The Dunfermline Press.
image: for illustration purposes only – Dunfermline Palace by Chiswick Chap, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
… no indication when sites such as Culross Abbey, Dunfermline Palace and Aberdour Castle will re-open…
The Dunfermline Press writes:
A councillor has criticised the decision to close so many of Fife’s historic attractions at the same time as “short-sighted”.
And David Barratt said Historic Environment Scotland (HES) – who are carrying out “essential” inspections on buildings they suspect are crumbling even more due to climate change – have given no indication when sites such as Culross Abbey, Dunfermline Palace and Aberdour Castle will re-open.
He said: “They’ve closed Inchcolm Abbey so no-one can go there and St Bridget’s Kirk in Dalgety Bay could potentially be shut for a couple of years.
“I don’t know if it will ever open again.
“Aberdour Castle and Culross Abbey are closed too – a number of our really important built heritage sites in the area aren’t open to the public.
“It’s not clear to me why they’ve done it, it seems really short-sighted and there’s been no clear or publicly-communicated strategy about what the long-term goal is.”
Last month, as the Press reported, Fife Council announced a three-year deal with Visit Scotland – they’ll pay them £80,000 in the first year – aimed at enticing tourists back to the Kingdom after the pandemic.
History and heritage was highlighted as one of the main themes…
A spokesperson for HES told the Press: “Some sites in Fife are currently closed as a precaution for essential high-level masonry inspections….”
HES cares for 336 buildings and sites across the country and are implementing a new approach to inspections in response to the effects of climate change….
