Funding approved for Glenrothes YMCA garden and gym project

The YMCA building in Glenrothes. Plans have been agreed to build a new community garden facility along with a gym.

The organisation currently operates a hostel in Alexander Road and wanted to create a project that would help residents feel a sense of ownership in the community, while making better space of the grounds.

The charity decided to create a garden and outdoor gym to help teach residents life skills as well as providing workout facilities. The gym facilities will also be available to the public.

Fife Council agreed to put more than £18,000 towards the project, which will cost almost £270,000.

Other partners have also agreed to help with funding including Tesco.

At the Glenrothes area committee, Councillor John Beare, SNP for North Glenrothes, Markinch and Leslie, wanted assurances that the public would have access to the facilities.

He said: “I would ask that a service agreement be put in place to ensure there’s unending public access to it, so they don’t have access for maybe six months and then it’s revoked.”

JP Easton, Team Manager (Community Development), told the committee: “This is a YMCA healthy living garden, it’s not seen as a children’s playpark. They’re going to take a piece of ground that’s not useful and turn it into this exciting thing that the whole community can use.

“But I’m not sure it would be for 24/7 use the same way parks are, but the community will have access to it.”

Altany Craik, Labour councillor for West Glenrothes and Kinglassie, also raised concerns over the ongoing maintenance of equipment.

He said: “It’s not clear that there is no liability to maintain costs. We have to be clear in our acceptance that there will be no money in the future for any maintenance of equipment. Our contribution is to fund structural pieces and not to maintain.”

It was agreed that this would be a one off contribution to the garden and the funds were approved.