The plan, covering the Victoria Road corridor, was commissioned by Fife Council and produced by the landscape architecture practice UrbanPioneers with active community consultation a key element in its production. The need for such a masterplan was a key recommendation of the design-led public consultation, or Charrette, which was carried out in the area in 2014.

The Charrette, which broadly covers an area between Victoria Road/Nairn Street in the south through to Hayfield Road to the north, has been renowned for having one of the highest concentrations of vacant and derelict land in Fife. Things are starting to turn around and there have been significant improvements in recent years particularly with completion of the 161 unit affordable housing development at Overton Road and residential and commercial proposals coming forward for a number of other major sites in the area.

Councillor Neil Crooks, convenor of Kirkcaldy area committee, said: “The Green Infrastructure Masterplan sets out an aspirational yet deliverable vision for a part of Kirkcaldy which has suffered badly over the decades due to de-industrialisation.

“This really is placemaking in action and I commend the work of UrbanPioneers and the council officers involved.”

There are still challenges though. Having new housing and greenspace close to derelict areas impacts negatively on the lives of residents. It can deter people from using existing recreational greenspace and paths which in many instances are of poor quality and not well overlooked making them feel unsafe.

Several green networks are located within the Kirkcaldy area, with most of them originally connecting to the coast but the links have been reduced and broken through development of settlements and industrialisation. Within the masterplan area elements of the Kirkcaldy Dens network are still visible. It sets out a vision to re-establish the link to the coastline but also the creation of east to west corridors that connect the various networks.

The masterplan has been submitted by UrbanPioneers for a 2018 Scottish Design Award; nominations to be announced in June.