Humble wall set for listed-building status

HISTORIC Scotland is considering granting listed status to a 300-year-old wall that has been at the centre of a dispute between a developer and residents.

Residents yesterday continued their campaign to stop Lomond Homes demolishing the wall in Falkland, Fife, as well as a barn and a byre , on the approach road to the village's historic palace.

The demolition would create an access point to a plot of land the company hopes to develop.

However, residents stress that the structures form part of the historic boundary on Falkland's Pleasance, and are barely 100 yards from the 16th-century Falkland Palace.

Historic Scotland, the country's main heritage body, initially refused to list the wall and structures.

However, following representations from campaigners, a spokeswoman said officials revisited the site yesterday to "reassess our decision about listing the remaining parts of the wall".

She cautioned, however, that this would not protect the structures if they were declared unsafe.

The villagers are already at loggerheads with Lomond Homes after the developer razed a 66ft section of the wall earlier this month, which they say broke a verbal agreement with Fife Council officials only to remove the top few feet of the structure and then make the rest safe.

As a result, residents have now taken to blocking the developer's route with their own cars, and are threatening further protests to prevent the proposed demolition on 25 April.

Lomond Homes has insisted the wall and adjoining buildings are unsafe and have to be demolished to comply with a notice issued by Fife Council to remove the danger of it collapsing.

But local residents commissioned an independent survey which concluded that remedial work could make them safe.

Campaigners now claim Fife Council has failed in its duty to observe conservation legislation and make the owner of the structures, Ladybank farmer William Mill, carry out the necessary repairs.

Local councillor David McDiarmid said: "Fife Council has all the powers to stop Lomond from tearing down the rest of the wall and they refuse to do it."

The wall and other buildings have been documented in engravings of the area dating back to 1693.

Local campaigner Peter Shepheard said: "The boundary walls and gabled buildings make a defining contribution to the conservation area and are a significant part of the streetscape.

"They lie on an important early route into Falkland and are intervisible with Falkland Palace."

Alastair Hamilton, of Fife Council, said that they would await Historic Scotland's decision before looking at "what legal options are open to the council" over the future of the wall.