WEST FIFERS will have the chance to see a range of proposals aimed at brightening up Dunfermline's Bruce Street today (Thursday).

The thoroughfare was one of four places in Scotland to be chosen for the Pocket Places initiative and results of a public consultation event in September are being unveiled today.

The project, being run in partnership with Fife Council and Sustrans, aims to deliver simple, quick, low-cost solutions to improve the look and feel of streets which will hopefully empower the community to work together and apply for further funding that could deliver large-scale change.

Sustrans senior urban designer René Sommer Lindsay said they were hoping to get feedback on three possible ways forward with the first being to upgrade the small triangular piece of land outside Kingdom Gymnastics and turning it into a tiny 'pocket park'.

"Often, parents stand around outside waiting for their children’s gym class to finish and this would give them a place to sit down and could also brighten up Bruce Street when arriving from Tesco," he said.

"We are also proposing a 'Parklet' on the pavement opposite the gym hall as part of this option. The parklet would be a temporary intervention to draw attention to things happening on Bruce Street and to change the perception of the street for both pedestrians and for drivers – so we discourage drivers from speeding on the last part of the street leading to the junction trying to beat the red light.

"At the event we are asking residents and businesses to help the project group prioritise which intervention would have the biggest impact on improving the look and feel of Bruce Street – both in terms of the quality of space and in terms of it feeling like a safe and comfortable place to walk and cycle.

"We will also be showing two other options for similarly simple, low-cost and temporary interventions. The second option is creating a heritage art trail on Bruce Street using vinyls to brighten up the shop fronts of empty businesses and improve way-finding.

"The last option is a local version of the 'Umbrella Sky' project where a temporary installation like the current Christmas lights could highlight how the street could look and feel in the future if – in the long term and outside the scope of this project– Dunfermline residents manage to create a full covered walkway on the street which was highlighted as an idea during the Design Dunfermline charrette."

The public event will take place this afternoon in Bruce Street's 1703 between 5-6pm.