A LOCAL councillor has this week made a bold move to try to get the blight on Cowdenbeath High Street sorted.

The burnt out shell of the Crown Hotel has dominated the north end of High Street for a decade now and with a new £8m retail park literally across the road, due to open this month, Alex Campbell feels it is high time the problem was resolved.

He has been in contact with the architects of the owners of the Crown and hopes that he can persuade them that the time is right for a solution to be found.

Councillor Campbell said this week: “This has been a running sore on High Street for far too long.

“I know that the owner has submitted various planning applications for the site but nothing positive has happened and it looks the same drab mess now as it did way back in 2009.

“With the new Lidl and B&M retail park set to open just yards away, it is time that we at least had some positive news on the future of the Crown site.”

He added: “I have spoken to the owner’s architects and they have agreed to pass on my request for information about what the gentleman has in mind for the site.

“Hopefully there will be some positive news about what is planned for the Crown Hotel shell.

“We need an end to this stalemate at a time when so much positive is happening at both ends of High Street, with the Sustrans project at the south end and the retail park in the north.

“If the Crown site was upgraded it would complete and amazing change to the central part of Cowdenbeath inside a few years.”

Among the plans that have been put forward for the Crown in the past have been a restaurant on the ground floor and an area of multiple occupancy upstairs, but just now the building looks as drab as it did ten years ago.

Concluded Councillor Campbell: “This is a critical time for the town centre’s future and a positive way ahead for the Crown site would complete the good news story that is Cowdenbeath High Street.”