Traffic rules come into force amid popularity of Fife Outlander village

It’s one of Fife’s prettiest villages, according to Labour West Fife and Coastal Villages councillor Graeme Downie.

It’s also the scene for the fictional village of Cranesmuir in the popular show Outlander.

However, it’s also suffered from parking problems and traffic gridlock as a result of its fame.

A new set of traffic rules approved by South and West Area Committee councillors on Wednesday will attempt to address those problems and get the balance right for local residents.

The new rules will introduce a “seasonal urban clearway” at Sandhaven in Culross, and a designated section of Sandhave between Balgownie House and the Back Causeway Junction where stopping and parking will be restricted or prohibited during specific times.

More specifically, they will prohibit and restrict parking in that area between the hours of 9am to 6pm from March 1 to October 31 each year.

The village of Culross will see new parking restrictions.

They were approved by South and West Area Committee councillors on Wednesday despite two “valid” and “reasonable” public objections.

“I think the order is far more beneficial than it is disruptive,” councillor Conner Young (Conservative for West Fife and coastal villages) added.

Tourism, he said, is great for the village but can also present a hazardous problem.

Councillor Sam Steele (SNP for West Fife and Coastal Villages) said she is aware of a few incidents where private tour companies have blocked Low Causeway road through the village, causing gridlock through the whole village.

It’s one of the reasons why councillors believe that the new traffic rules are necessary. It is essentially an attempt to manage the large amounts of visitor traffic to the village.

“I agree that the objections are fair and understandable, but I’m happy to put them aside,” Steele said.

However, the two local objectors argued that the rules will take parking away from local residents and they won’t help with speeding issues.

A response from Roads and Transportation suggested that the objections miss the point of the new rules.

“The request for this restriction came from the [the local Culross] community council to stop the parking in Sandhaven to reduce congestion and improve the free flow of traffic on busy days through the tourist season, especially bus services,”the response from the service stated.

“This request was not to look at the parking provisions needed in the village. Concerns regarding parking due to this would have to be looked at separately from this order.”

Downie emphasised that the objections are “reasonable”, but he believed the rules are necessary to help with tourist season traffic.

“I’m inclined to set aside the objections and proceed [with the new rules], he said.

“The village is one of the prettiest we have in fife, it attracts a lot of visitors and it’s very important to the local economy. We want to make sure we have visitors in the area able to do that, but we have to strike the right balance between visitors and local residents.”

The committee unanimously agreed to set the two objections aside and approve the new traffic rules in Culross.