Fife Council: More than £329,000 of community investment for Levenmouth projects

Levenmouth councillors have approved more than £329,000 in community investment for a variety of projects and groups.

The local area committee rubber stamped the funding across 12 groups and projects at a meeting on Wednesday. Councillor Colin Davidson, convener of the Levenmouth Area Committee, said: “I’m delighted at the continued investment and that the hard work of Fife Council staff is delivering for the area.”

The bulk of investment was approved from Local Community Planning and Anti-Poverty Budgets.

A total of £20,000 will go towards new lighting at Methil’s Memorial Park, after previous low level post lighting – installed several years ago – had to be removed. Five new standard lamps will light the memorial and connecting paths, allowing the park to be used more safely – particularly throughout the winter months.

The council also allocated £8,500 to help Eastvale FC work at Greig Park in Windygates, after a devastating fire destroyed one of the changing room facilities in 2022. The damaged unit must be removed by contractors, but the club needs help to cover the costs of a full asbestos survey and bat and bird surveys before work can proceed.

Summer Activity Costs for community learning and development was awarded £15,000 to bolster summer programs.

“Given the opportunity to provide high quality activities locally have been hampered over the last few years – it was felt that we needed to gear up the offer accordingly,” a committee report explained.

The Methilhill Community Children’s Initiative has been allocated £6,900 following “considerable vandalism damage” to play area facilities at their base in Methilhill. A funding campaign has been underway to replace most damaged items, but the group requested funding assistance from the council to replace two composting toilet facilities for their site. The facilities, they say “ensure staff and children have adequate toilet provision on hand throughout the day.”

Another £8,500 was secured to provide fencing and gates for a new dog exercise area at Methil’s Taylor Park. The council previously said it would look into a segregated area for dog walkers in the area to help reduce conflict between dog owners and families with young children using play facilities.

Buckhaven Baptist Church was allocated £6200 for heating and flooring work. The committee said the church has been “a key partner in local food insecurity work for several years now.”

Councillors also approved £24,000 in Levenmouth investment from the Community Recovery Fund. The fund is part of the £10 million post-covid recovery scheme approved by the Fife Cabinet Committee last August.

The money will allow the Largo Library and Community Hub to upgrade its heating system and it will provide Christmas lighting upgrades for Leven’s High Street.

“Due to the recent fires on the Leven High Street, adaptations will be made to infrastructure to ensure full coverage of the street for the December 2023 display,” a committee press release said. A total of £15,000 has been put towards Christmas lighting upgrades.

However, two projects in particular claimed the bulk of Wednesday’s investment.

A whopping £100,000 was earmarked for a new modular changing unit at Herd Park in Methilhill.

“The existing changing room provision is currently mainly used by Methilhill Strollers, but it is well over 30-years-old and in need of improvement,” the council explained. “While contributions from other sources are being looked at, the £100,000 has now been ring-fenced which should allow a new unit to be purchased and fitted as early in the 2024/25 financial year as possible.”

A further £100,000 was set aside to cover the costs of the Green Skills Academy. The money will go towards a variety of River Leven/Silverburn/Area Projects to “support green maintenance for the River Leven and wider area” and to protect paths and other infrastructure put in place through the Leven Programme and rail station connectivity.

“Councillors will be aware that we need to put in place a robust framework of maintenance to protect the capital investment in paths and other infrastructure aligned to the River Leven programme which also supports the need for new rail station connectivity, and ensure they remain a usable asset for the area for many years to come,” a committee report said.

The money will go towards a project supervisor and required equipment to ensure training for up to four cohorts a year to maintain Fife’s green regional assets.