A £10,000 feasibility study will look at how visitor attractions in the 'Heart of Dunfermline' can work together to benefit the town.

The Abbey Church of Dunfermline applied for, and received, half of the money from the West Fife Area Common Good sub-committee.

The aim is to establish a vision for the project with the possibility of applying for money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

A report explained: "The Heart of Dunfermline is a shared Fife Council and Historic Environment Scotland project.

"The feasibility study will explore and present a number of options looking at how the existing assets and buildings currently under the stewardship of the partners can work together to better serve the local community through a co-ordinated and cohesive vision, this will include St Margaret’s House and the graveyards.

"The shared aspiration is for the Palace and Abbey, church and burial grounds to sit proudly in the Heart of Dunfermline’s heritage quarter and be a vibrant, welcoming, safe space for locals and visitors alike, serving community, tourism and social change."

There have been numerous studies and reports over the years about how the operators of the various visitor attractions in Dunfermline could and should work together.

The latest move received the approval of the sub-committee convener, Councillor Helen Law, who said: "This is an ambitious plan for the Abbey and surrounding area and to make that a real centre of a heritage quarter in Dunfermline.

“I certainly would support the feasibility study to look at how that might be taken forward.”

The £10,000 feasibility study will be led by Oberlanders Architects, an Edinburgh firm appointed after a tendering process in 2018.

They'll look at neighbouring initiatives and attractions such as Abbot House, Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries, the Maygate enterprise hub, Dunfermline Heritage Partnership, the Fife Pilgrim Way and the Great Place Project, which aims to bring together the main heritage organisations in Dunfermline, to work more closely with council services, charities, voluntary and business groups to deliver social and economic benefits.

The report said: "It is anticipated that the feasibility study will illustrate multiple options, ranging in scale, with each imagining how the existing buildings and landscape can be shaped and regenerated to better serve the common good.

"Each option will be presented through plans and diagrams that will be clearly legible and easily understood by a wide and varied audience."