MAKING the case for Fife has paid off with news of a £1.78 million fund to help the council tackle vacant and derelict land and Cardenden Community Council has wasted no time in lodging their buildings of concern.

This is indeed, good news for communities in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area which are suffering from blights on the landscape.

The Cardenden CC response was, “In reply to your email, there are two derelict buildings in Cardenden which have been causing concern for many years. Both were owned by Fife Council, but were sold at auction some time ago.

“Since then the owners have allowed them to deteriorate to such an extent, these are now a health and safety hazard in the community and require demolition. The buildings have also been highlighted in our Community Action Plan.

“The first is a former newsagent shop in Station Road (see right). The second is a former miners’ institute/youth centre in Main Street (see below).

“We hope that some agreement can be reached with the owners to enable a satisfactory outcome for the community”.

Depute Council Leader, Lesley Laird, welcomed the announcement Fife will, from next year, be able to access the Scottish Government’s Vacant and Derelict land fund for the first time ever.

There continues to be issues with property in Cowdenbeath and Cardenden but the move by the Scottish Government is going to give councils extra powers to get rid of these and take steps to be recompensed.

The council has previously been excluded from the fund despite having the fourth largest area of vacant and derelict land in Scotland.

Councillor Laird, spokesperson for Economy and Planning, said council lobbying has achieved results, “This is great news for Fife and I’m glad the work the council has done on this has paid off.

“We knew that we had a strong case to make in terms of gaining access to this fund. I was more than happy to push the case for Fife and am pleased that the merits of our argument won through and we can now start to assess the best way in which to utilise this money.” Work has already begun and just last week the council began asking community councils to help identify sites in their area so that the most accurate picture can be put together.

Councillor Laird added, “This work is key to helping us have an accurate picture of vacant and derelict land in Fife.

“We want to ensure that local communities are involved in helping us as their insight and local knowledge is invaluable.

“By doing this work it means that we will have the most up to-date information.

“This helps us to continue to make the best case possible for Fife when any future grants or funding becomes available.” In Fife, 199 sites are classed as either vacant or derelict and the sites in Cardenden and Cowdenbeath are among these with 141 of the 199 vacant and derelict sites located within two miles of areas classified as the most deprived communities.

Our picture above shows Councillor Laird, who has welcomed the news that Fife will be able to access funding to tackle vacant and derelict land.