‘Unacceptable’ bid to offload Fife community centres is put on hold
A decision on whether to axe community centres across Fife, or transfer them to community use, has been put off after the proposals were branded “unacceptable.”
Members of Fife Council’s Cabinet Committee had been asked to look at the potential disposal of around 20 facilities as part of a bid to save £2.1m by 2028. The list included the Glebe Park Centre in Kirkcaldy, Methilhill OAP Centre, Corrie Centre in Cardenden, and the White House and Woodside Hall in Glenrothes.
A report to councillors said many of the council facilities faced “significant pressures” due to ageing infrastructure, rising operational costs and shifting patterns of use.
But councillors from all political parties hit out at the plans and agreed to combine motions from both Labour and the SNP which will see a working group set up to look at possible solutions.
Councillor David Barratt (Dalgety Bay and Inverkeithing), who proposed the SNP amendment, said the paper was “not fit for purpose.”
He said the plans, which would affect 20 halls or centres, represented a saving of just over £500,000.
“Many of these are just unacceptable to our group at least and evidence for closure is not presented,” he said. “I get the impression that the council is seeking to offload some of its more challenging assets. If we have assets that we consider to be challenging, are we setting communities up for a fail by trying to offload them in this way?
“The savings agreed last year proposed savings through greater integration of services through a network of integrated community hubs. The aim was to have fewer buildings, but to ensure each community had provision. The proposals now presented would see some communities lose the only provision they have.
“CAT (Community Asset Transfers) and community leases are positive options to explore, but we’re being asked to promote this under threat of closure over very short timescales with little to no justification.
“Promoting these options is right and proper, but communities should not be asked to consider the future of their community centres with a gun to their head. This is not inclusive, it is not community led, it is not how we create community benefits and it’s not how we create sustainable leisure provision.”
Council leader David Ross, who introduced the Labour amendment, said it was important the working group acted quickly and did not “kick the ball into the long grass”.
He commented: “There are real issues we need to address and be clear about what can happen and what cannot happen.
“We want to see community services more resilient and inclusive and community led but the proposals in this report do not do that unfortunately.
“I think there are some things on there that are going to be non-contentious and there are others that people would just rule out straight away and a few in the middle that we would want more information on.”
Councillor Rosemary Liewald also expressed her frustration.
“The concern I have is with regard to two centres in the village of Cardenden,” she said. “We have both groups saying they cannot merge.
“Groups regularly use the Corrie Centre on a weekly, daily, evening basis five days a week. They cannot possibly be dragged down to the Bowhill Centre.”
The committee agreed that the working group would produce a final report to be brought back to the Cabinet Committee with recommendations before the summer recess.
Prior to the debate, Councillor Kathleen Leslie (Burntisland, Kinghorn, and Western Kirkcaldy, Conservative) also criticised the proposals put in front of the committee - and the lack of consultation which she said was “outrageous.”
She said: “The information on each hall/centre in the paper is almost non existent. We are being asked about a whole range of venues across Fife. Councillors are often focused on their ward and area - as we rightly should be - therefore, to agree to proposals with next to nothing in terms of information is pretty astounding.” She also queried a bid to standardise closing times at 9:00pm across all venues, adding: “This is apparently due to lower customer demand. I would turn this around and ask - is the lower customer demand due to people not being aware of space available for a group to meet because it is not being highlighted?”