Councillors pledge £7750 to light up Fife town centre at Christmas

The town has always benefitted from council cash to celebrate the festive season - but responsibility for financing them was delegated to local elected members some years ago.

Leven Environment Group maintains responsibility for the project, supported by Leven Community Council.

Members of the Levenmouth area committee agreed that splashing the cash on lighting was justified - especially after the tough year the community has had.

"Improvements to visual amenity and making the area a nice place to be for the shoppers and visitors will help to retain and indeed increase the footfall of the area," said local community manager David Paterson.

Less certain, however, is whether there will be a traditional switch-on of the lights as the festive season gets underway - or the parade that accompanies it.

However, Mr Paterson said that switch-on or not the lights would be appreciated by local visitors.

"The current crisis has badly affected High Streets across the country, and while this project will not solve the underlying issues that surround the future direction of these retail spaces, it does appreciably add to the amenity of the area over the festive period," he concluded.

The £7750 spend is broken down into £5450 for erecting and dismantling the lights, £1800 to carry out stress tests of the mounts on which the lights will be secured and £500 to cover any works required following the stress tests.

Cllr Ken Caldwell, convener of the Levenmouth area committee, said: “Leven Environment Group continue to do a great job with the Christmas lights each year and as a committee, we’re happy to support them with this contribution.

“We want people to visit and shop in our town centre and these decorations will make it both welcoming and attractive during the festive period.”

Elsewhere, the Levenmouth area committee agreed to contribute £10,000 to the refurbishment of the toilets at the Greig Institute, and accepted the suggestion to name the street in a new Quale Homes development to the East of Station Road McKay Court, after lifelong local youth worker James Hamish Taylor McKay.

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