Do your bit to help your area
Cathie Gibson (Secr) and Gillian Walters (Vice Chair) of the Dallas Drive Residents Committee
TENANTS and residents in Dallas Drive and surrounding streets are being encouraged to be part of the community and make their voices heard.
Cathie Gibson is secretary and Gillian Walters is the vice-chairman of Dallas Drive Residents and Tenants Association and they want locals to get involved in the group and come along to the next meeting on November 28.
Cathie said the Association was founded three years ago and has achieved a lot of success in the area since then.
She said: “The Association has been successful and it has made a big difference in Dallas Drive since 2009, there have been a lot of changes.
“The street used to be known as ‘Dallas Dive’ and I would never want to drive my car down the street, never mind walk down it because of the problems with anti-social behaviour. There was also a lot of broken glass, broken bottles and needles lying around as well as cars with flat tyres. No-one wanted to live here.
Cleared
“But since the tenants and residents got together and spoke to officers at the Council this has been cleared up. A group of people reporting issues has more clout than just one person.
“This is why it is so important to keep the association going but we need more people to come along to meetings and make their views heard.”
The Association works closely with Rab Clark, housing neighbourhood officer at Fife Council, local councillors Neil Crooks, David Ross and Carol Lindsay, as well as other agencies such as the police, the community wardens, the night time noise team, housing investigations team, environmental services, dog warden, road safety and traffic management.
Improved
Cathie continued: “By working together the area is now better and we have dramatically improved community safety. Through tenants and residents reporting problems we are able to discuss them with Rab and Cllr Crooks and any other relevant person to find the best solution or outcome.
“This has allowed us to have over £76,000 spent on improvements within the area to date and we still have projects ongoing.”
But Gillian said the Association can also be used to float ideas: “We want people to suggest ideas for events or things we can do as a group,” she said.
“For example I have been thinking about having a community bonfire at the park at Kenmore behind the school.
“We could also make use of an empty shop in the area by turning it into a community cafe. We want people to come up with ideas to help revive the community spirit in the area.”
The Association meets on the last Wednesday of every month and the next meeting is being held on November 28 in the Cottage Family Centre at 6.30 p.m. although meetings normally take place in Charley’s Bar in Dunearn Drive.
Cathie added: “We want as many people as possible to come along. The Association is about working together and making this area a better place to live in.”
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Weather for Kirkcaldy
Thursday 23 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 6 C to 11 C
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