CAMPAIGNERS hoping to persuade Fife College to move to Dunfermline town centre held a "last-pitch" presentation at the City Chambers on Friday.

Last month, the college revealed that the Shepherd Offshore site in Halbeath was the preferred option for its plans to build a campus for up to 6,000 students.

However, Dunfermline Delivers, politicians and councillors back plans using the old Dunlop factory, Carnegie Clinic, Merchiston House and empty buildings around the Pilmuir Street area, arguing that it would help revive the town centre and give students easy access to town-centre and transport facilities.

Friday's event, hosted by City of Dunfermline area committee chair Helen Law, was attended by Fife College reps as well as reps from business and public sectors.

Cllr Law said there had been cross-party support to “encourage the college to look at a town-centre option”, saying: “It would be a total game-changer.

“We know the college is in final negotiations but we would like to make a last pitch.”

Dunfermline architects Oliver & Robb displayed plans incorporating a “flexible and multi-functional” educational facility, a central plaza and exhibition centre, and 300 car-parking spaces, as well as potential for expansion.

It was also estimated that a town-centre campus, based on a conceptual layout of 24,441 sq m, would cost £68million, rising to £86m to include tender/construction inflation and VAT.

Senior partner Brian Robb underlined: “Various other potential costs have been identified but not included in the estimate of costs, such as land and property acquisition, finance costs and professional fees.

“To interrogate and develop the cost estimate in further detail, the design team would require to establish a definitive brief with the client, to determine their expectations in respect of inclusions and exclusions within the target project cost.”

He said the five-acre site “entails five or six owners” but added: “This is a fantastic location, with the High Street five minutes from the southern edge of the site, the railway station seven minutes' walk, the bus station two minutes away, the Carnegie Leisure Centre, retail park, Tesco and Pittencrieff Park three minutes away.”

He continued: “We're not here to tell you what to do but it's incumbent upon us as a local community, and upon the college too, to at least investigate this opportunity.”

Ian MacFarlane, managing director of Dunfermline-based glazing firm CR Smith, drove home the message of “keeping core skills local” and how “education should be accessible for business”.

Giving the example of CR Smith's apprenticeships, he said: “We've found that through working closely with local colleges to create jobs, there have been huge social benefits.

“It's so important that business works very closely with colleges. The closer education is to business, the better it is, and the locality of it is so important.

“We need to be able to be educated locally and keep the opportunity for core skills local.”

Also speaking in favour of a town-centre college were Dunfermline Delivers manager Lisa Edwards and Dunfermline MP Douglas Chapman.

Ms Edwards said local businesses were “incredibly keen for the college to be right on their doorstep”, with “more footfall generating better retail and a safer town”, while Mr Chapman said “putting the college at the heart of town puts it at the heart of our ambitions for Dunfermline”.

Following the presentation, David Neilson, Fife College vice-president, told the Press: “It's been very useful and we will consider it. We are on a journey and we will have to make a decision and move on this later this year.”

A full business case for the Shepherd site will be considered later this year and a 12-week consultation programme carried out before any further agreement about buying the land.

The total cost is expected to be around £90m, with £70m from the Scottish Government's Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) programme and £20m from the college and Scottish Funding Council.