Council leaders Peter Grant and Elizabeth Riches outlined eight priorities last week which will form the basis of a plan put to the council on October 25.
And in the vision for the next four years they hope to ensure every area of life in Fife is better than anywhere else.
Areas which they want to target include:
education
housing
economic development
green issues.
However, no costings or budgets on how the far-reaching goals will be achieved were revealed.
Unveiling the Utopian vision, Councillor Peter Grant said: "We want Fife – all of Fife to set its sights much higher than it has done in the past.
''If I had to sum up my ambition for Fife in a single phrase, it would be this. I want Fife to be a truly great place to live and work."
"These are ambitious targets if we take them in isolation.
''I don't think they can be achieved in isolation.
''To achieve all eight of them is asking a lot of our staff. We believe that they can deliver.
''We believe that they want to deliver. We believe that they will deliver."
Councillor Elizabeth Riches also revealed goals to improve community safety, support vulnerable people and to become a top performing council.
"This is an exciting time,'' she said.
'We are already aware of staff responding positively to the challenges ahead and we are looking forward to implementing our priorities."
The four year plan will be put to the council's Policy, Finance and Asset Management Committee on October 25 and if councillors pass the plan, it will go to the full council meeting on November 8 for approval.

Celebrate success

FIFE needs to punch its weight and Scotland needs to be aware of Fife.
Realising the full potential of staff, listening to them, working more closely and celebrating their successes are some of the ways Fife will become a top performing council.
Councillor Riches said: "We are ambitious for Fife and for our staff and so must make sure all the necessary training and development is available.
"We must be realistic and not keep introducing one initiative after another so staff loose sight of what the focus is.
''Continual restructuring can be demoralising if it is not seen and understood as having a desired benefit. We want to improve the lines of communication up, down and sideways within the Council."
Improving the way in which services are delivered, being imaginative, flexible and resourceful in order to make budgets go further will be how the council serves the public as well as listening to their ideas.
"We will know we have succeeded in making Fife a top performing council when our staff have a real pride in saying they work for the council and when the public comment favourably more often about our services than complain!"


More council houses

PLANS to look into building more council houses is one of the options for increasing access to housing.
Councillor Elizabeth Riches said they are determined to change the lack of suitable housing in the Kingdom.
Problems with inflated house prices make it difficult and the number of council houses for rent is decreasing.
But at the same time homeless numbers are on the rise each year.
"We want to address the shortage of affordable housing by working with Fife Housing Association by making best use of our land.
''We want to ensure our council houses are up to the best possible energy standards so our tenants are saved money and the environment benefits too.
''We must make sure houses do not remain empty for longer than necessary and that excellent and timeous repairs are carried out.
''We intend to develop a business plan to examine whether we can build our own council houses."

Sporting chance

PROVIDING and maintaining facilities, encouraging people to use them and dispelling the myth of Fife as a "cultural backwater" are ways in which opportunities for sport, leisure and culture will be improved.
Councillor Peter Grant said commitment had already been shown by the £50 million investment programme to replace ageing facilities.
"We have a huge number and range of sporting and cultural events. We've made efforts to market these in a co-ordinated fashion, but Fife is still seen as a cultural backwater.
"Last year at an annual conference of a major cultural organisation a panel member said that nothing ever happened in Fife and nobody on the panel disagreed.
"A few weeks ago a national newspaper took Dunfermline to task for having the cheek to organise a book festival because Edinburgh was the place for such events. Needless to say the Dunfermline Children's Book Festival was a great success and in years to come it will continue to be a great success.
These kind of things matter. They help strengthen people's feelings of belonging.
"Giving everyone access to sport, leisure and cultural opportunities has benefits for physical and mental health and also for our social health."


Crime and safety

TACKLING crime and pressing for additional police officers on the beat are two ways to improve community safety.
Councillor Elizabeth Riches said for many Fifers the fear of crime is worse than their experience and highlighted that older people feel intimidated by the "small nuisances" of anti-social behaviour.
She added many crimes are drug or alcohol related and cause disruption to communities all over the Kingdom.
"We will continue to press for more police officers. But police can not solve all these problems on their own and we're determined to work with other agencies to bring change.
"By working together resources will go further and the results will be more worthwhile. It's well worth remembering that it's only a few youngsters that get into trouble. Young people often have excellent ideas about what would make a difference in their areas and we need to listen to them."


Let's go green

WE owe it to future generations of Fifer's to help the Council become the greenest in Scotland.
Councillor Peter Grant said the Council had to lead by example and added it wasn't just about recycling more.
Reducing the amount of waste produced, using greener products and supporting public transport were some of the areas where progress could be made.
"This must include a reduction on the number of miles travelled by our own employees on council business. We need to look at how we use the land. Our parks and open spaces can be managed in a sustainable way so they are still attractive places to visit.
"We also need to look at the quality of the build environment in our towns and villages. We need to speed up the process of reinstating derelict land and buildings, whether this is done by the Council or by someone else.
"More than any of our other priorities, this one is about changing public attitudes. I believe the people of Fife are ready for this change. If we provide the leadership they will follow."


Back to work

GETTING Fifer's back into work is one of the ways to create local conditions for economic growth.
Councillor Peter Grant said by getting 25,000 out of the 40,000 Fifers out of work off the dole a difference would be made.
He added the Council had a bigger role to play in economic development especially in the supply of land and premises.
"But do our planning policies help local businesses to grow in a sustainable way, or do they get in the road?
''Do our procurement policies encourage local businesses to compete, or do we freeze them out?
''Do we genuinely treat the private sector as our partners, or are we still dealing at sword's length?
''I think we all know the answers many in the private sector would give to these questions."
Fife must also benefit from projects including the new Kincardine bridge, new houses and replacement sports and leisure facilities, he added.
Making sure there's a home grown supply of quality workers, encouraging local businesses to expand, taking on people from sections of society once ignored in the labour market and setting an example by investing in apprenticeships and other training schemes for young people will help.


Care for vulnerable

SUPPORTING vulnerable people in Fife was also one of the priorities of the four year plan.
Supporting elderly people who want to stay in their own homes and providing the highest standard of care in residential homes as well as working closely with the voluntary sector are some of the ways Councillor Riches feels the goal will be achieved.
"Care in residential homes must be of the highest standards offering dignity and privacy, whether it is provided by the Council or by private organisations.
"We are well aware that considerable investment is needed to bring all of our homes up to a standard fit for 2020."
Councillors also take seriously the responsibility for children in need and Councillor Riches added those youngsters should be returned to the Kingdom.
"We are keen to return these youngsters to Fife either, to the care of foster carers, or to special small homes. These looked after children need extra help to make sure they achieve at school and are supported when they leave school.
''To this end we have appointed a champion for just this task.
''Those with significant learning difficulties are going to need continued support from the council and we must not fail them."


Top of the class

ONE of the targeted areas in the ambitious four year plan is education and by 2011 it's hoped that there will be improved educational attainment and achievement in Fife's schools.
Peter Grant said: "Fife used to claim to have the best education system in the world. Today we are below the Scottish average for attainment and within this overall figure there are huge differences between our schools."
There are examples of success in the Kingdom's schools, Cllr Grant added and he also praised staff.
But he revealed: "I want to see every school in Fife aiming not just to match the average, but to match the best.
"In education as in other parts of the Council there will be difficult decisions to take.
''These decisions will not always be popular, but they will always be taken based on expert advice as to what is most likely to give all our young people the best possible preparation for their adult lives."