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Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Tue 4 Oct 09:09
To be renamed Dunfermline CITY.
I`m wondering why they ever bothered changing it. It was Dunfermline Lower until they closed Dunfermline Upper and it simply became "Dunfermline". They then renamed it again to avoid confusion with Dunfermline Queen Margaret. Would people really have found having Dunfermline and Dunfermline QM confusing?
I`m interested in why they wouldn`t rename it back to Dunfermline Lower or even Comely Park as it would have been originally.
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Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Tue 4 Oct 09:38
If there are perceived benefits from having city status then why not advertise it? Visitors would not necessarily be aware of the history of the station so will not be surprised by the name.
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Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Tue 4 Oct 10:08
I`d expect the benefits are more related to having a seat at the "big boy table" when it comes to discussions around investment. Also additional promotion. I`m not sure if it`s still the case, but Visit Scotland used to pretty much ignore Dunfermline and have it as part of information on "Fife and St Andrews". I`m now downplaying the importance of St Andrew`s, but Dunfermline has more history IMO and is easier to travel to. The biggest failure in Dunfermline has been the council. Seeing the bottom of the high street on TV was shameful. Poorly installed bollards covered in scuffs, manky paving, sandstone pavements leading into tarmac, the road on Bridge Street resembling the surface of the moon, to let signs everywhere (not the fault of the council per se) and that bloody awful "gap site", which the council own but don`t seem interested in developing for anything other than this civic square.
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Topic Originator: Raymie the Legend
Date: Tue 4 Oct 10:31
The bottom of the two is manky. Look at Bridge Street and Chalmers Street. How long as the Chinese/Indian been closed ? 30 years?
I blame the council for the state of the High Street and nearby. High rents and rates. Parking charges
Who wants to shop in Dunfermline?
It`s bloody tough being a legend
Ron Atkinson - 1983
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Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Tue 4 Oct 10:45
The council don`t set rates or rents though. They also can`t do much about the Chinese as it`s privately owned. The Serena looks like it`s being turned into a home and the Chinese would do well to do the same but I heard the owners vanished some time ago.
Parking is pretty cheap in Dunfermline. Just over a quid for 2 hours. Can`t really complain about that. The car parks are always rammed too so it`s not like there`s not a market there.
Imagine tourists jumping on a bus to Dunfermline. As soon as they exit the station they are met with a random set of steps to nowhere, a zig zag path through some weeds and a burnt section of decking. The council owns that site and wants to turn it into a civic square, which it`s completely unsuited to due to being on a hill and having buildings directly opposite. They claim no-one has been interested in the site but that`s probably because they pushed for retail rather than residential.
Imagine the tourists come by train. They walk along Comely Park and up the New Row. Broken paving all the way up then an ugly tarmac pavement once you cross at the Alhambra. Up to the High Street where your met by manky old benches, trees with mouldy plastic bases and paving that`s uneven, broken and has people driving down it!
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Topic Originator: Raymie the Legend
Date: Tue 4 Oct 11:36
I stand corrected on the rates and rent. Surely appeals could go in to the assessor that the reason units are lying empty is because rates and rent are prohibitive>
Better to have them occupied, surely?
Parking should be free. Money could be spent on a sandwich or coffee?
Surely they can track down the owner and force them to at least make the front look respectable?
Aside from that, it`s surely a health and fire hazard?
Agree about your other points.
I did notice the lines on the road were freshly painted for the route Chic took yesterday. There`s a waste of money
It`s bloody tough being a legend
Ron Atkinson - 1983
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Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Tue 4 Oct 13:48
The problem with free parking is it`s then taken up by workers nearby who will happily leave their cars taking up space 8:30-17:30. This is resolved in some towns by haveing 2-3 hours free, policed by having little time cards you put in your car window.
Sound good? It`s not. It`s a total pain in the backside if you`re not local. Berwick has this and I remember trying to park in town and then being advised I needed to go to a shop up the road to get a card. I think you maybe needed to pay for the card too maybe? Anyway, in the end I gave up and went to the Tesco on the outskirts instead. The fact the likes of the Glen Bridge car park are rammed suggests the pricing doesn`t out people off.
I don`t know why landlords are happy to see their units sit empty. I suspect there`s a reason. Left up to me, I`d seek to buy the old Boots (knock down, replace with flats and a better link down music hall lane). Same with the likes of the Blossom Chinese.
The problem in Dunfermline recently has been units ending up at auction, being bought cheap and then being chucked straight back on the market. That happened with the old Registrar`s but I think a guy in Kelty bought it eventually. It was supposed to be a beauty salon and flats but that was pre-covid.
The council needs to do something. Tourism will increase as a result of city status and you want people going home and saying things like "Oh, definitely spend a day in Dunfermline if you`re visiting Edinburgh" rather than "Oh, we went to Dunfermline when we were over. I wouldn`t bother."
I find it a real shame that most of the effort around promoting Dunfermline seems to come from local people and business rather than the tourist board and local authority.
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Topic Originator: Tenruh
Date: Tue 4 Oct 18:34
If the station needed a name change surely The Elizabeth or Queen Elizabeth would have been appropriate?
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Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Tue 4 Oct 22:45
What`s funny is I remember people saying years ago the Town name should be dropped. Network Rail or whoever made out it was a massive task and couldn`t be done. They still say the say about the station at St Mirren`s stadium. Yet barely an hour as an official city and they`re all good to change the name...
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Topic Originator: parsfan
Date: Tue 4 Oct 23:03
I`d change them both...Dunfermline Home End and Dunfermline Away End.
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The universe is ruled by chance and indifference
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