Why Kirkcaldy needs a Town Board – our town and this funding belong to everyone: Melanie Ward MP
Last week I presented the responses of almost 700 residents to my six-week survey on the future of Kirkcaldy town centre.
Over 100 people came to Fife College to hear about public attitudes to the town centre and our shared priorities for renewing it.
After the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced that Kirkcaldy would be prioritised for multi-million pound regeneration funding from the Growth Mission Fund, Fife Council are putting together a masterplan for the future of the town centre. It is the council that will be responsible for spending this first tranche of money. That’s why your survey responses are so important; I want to ensure that your priorities are heard and acted on by the council.
We must be clear that the change we all want to see is going to take time and that this first funding award will allow us to take the first steps only.
But the top priorities of residents are clear; 65% support a more attractive waterfront, 53% want improved tourism facilities and 52% are clear on the need to demolish derelict buildings and replace them with more modern ones.
Local businesses share the priorities of residents, according to our roundtable discussions. Some 93% of respondents felt that the current High Street and waterfront looked worse than in previous years. Fife has been deprioritised by the SNP Scottish Government for years, as we have seen our town centre left to decline with no effort to renew it. The SNP have been too busy fermenting division to focus on a solution for the real problems we face.
That’s why I was delighted that our UK Labour Government is providing a further £40 million for regeneration projects in Fife, working in partnership with communities, on top of the money for Kirkcaldy High Street and seafront.
We need to use the fantastic assets we already have to our advantage. Hardworking and caring people, our extraordinary heritage and our beautiful seafront views were the top three reasons to be proud of Kirkcaldy, according to respondents.
In my view it is vital that community groups and local businesses have input into the masterplan and that’s why I’ve called on Fife Council to follow other areas in setting up a Town Board or Steering Group with both community and business representation. Our town and this funding belong to everyone.
Thank you to everyone who filled out my survey and came to meet me. Together we can make change happen.