Fife trust under fire as it quits Meedies role

The Trust had been managing the “Meedies” as a pilot scheme since June 2014.

But staff have been told that it will hand back control to Fife Council when the arrangement ends on March 31.

Locals have expressed concern about the future of the park and its visitor centre, which the Trust closed in October, with no signs that it is to re-open.

Plans to demolish the centre in November were scrapped after a storm of protest from the local community over a proposed new venue, which was described as a “carbuncle”.

Tom Kinnaird, a member of the Meedies Action Panel (MAP), said: “We were very disappointed that no one at FCCT or Fife Council responded when we made public our concerns about the visitor centre.

“Parts have already been dismantled and damaged in preparation for demolition.

“The building has effectively been abandoned and left to rot. Already parents whose children use the adjacent playground have expressed safety worries.

“Now we learn on the grapevine that the FCCT has pulled out of the Meedies completely.

“Fife Council owns FCCT so the buck stops with it. Instead of continuing to keep the communities around the Meedies in the dark, it should be working with them to sort this mess out.”

Chris Broome, the fourth CEO at FCCT in the past year, said: “On balance it was felt that the Trust was not best placed to continue managing the park under the prevailing circumstances.

“We wanted to give both Fife Council and the staff at the park as much notice as possible of its decision to enable as smooth a hand over as feasible, and will continue to work closely with the council over the next three months to achieve this.

Grant Ward, head of area services, added: “We know how much this facility means to the community and want to ensure we have a robust plan for its future.”