A drive is now on in Kinghorn to raise funds to build an eco-friendly woodland cemetery and ‘columbarium’ on the east of Kinghorn Loch next door to the Ecology Centre. Planning permission has now been granted by Fife Council for the project. It will be the first eco-cemetery in Fife and the columbarium, a memorial repository for the ashes of passed-away loved ones, will be the first of its kind in the whole of Scotland and only the fourth to be built in the UK.

The project will be set up as a community not for profit enterprise by Kinghorn Community Land Association (KCLA). Following the purchase of 10 acres of land on behalf of the community in 2015, KCLA commissioned Edinburgh based architects Simpson and Brown to design the columbarium.

“We are delighted to get planning permission for this unique place of remembrance”, Richard Brewster KCLA Chair said of the project. “This is a real milestone for Kinghorn. The concept has really captured people’s imagination and this resulted in so much positive support from the public when the planning application was submitted.”

“There is a real shortage of cemetery space locally and this will be somewhere special for people to lay loved ones to rest. The cemetery will develop into a natural woodland and peaceful remembrance space with wildflower meadow and spectacular views over the Forth. The idea for the columbarium is based on an Iron Age barrow - a hollow mound with passages within it, with a central walled area somewhat like a broch, and a path that leads from the higher celebration platform.”