COWDENBEATH Area Committee is backing four initiatives through its ward budgets with the total commitment upward of £80,000.

Wednesday's meeting heard that the Local Community Planning fund would back the projects, councillors agreed.

Community Manager, Kevin Sayer, explained that these included Cleaner Tidier Fife (£30,000); the Easter and Summer Playschemes (£30,000); Driving4Success (£6,850) and Cardenden Community Futures (£10,000).

He added: "The Easter and Summer Playschemes is about the Community Learning Development department organising events which sees a lot of children from the area having fun and improving their health and wellbeing as well as learning and this would see the Cowdenbeath and Kelty and Lochgelly, Benarty and Cardenden wards contributing £15,000 each.

"The totals would be the same for each ward as far as Cleaner Tidier Fife with the Parks Streets and Open Spaces team on projects outwith their core work which enhance and improve public realm in the area.

"Meanwhile Driving4Success is an exciting and innovating youth work initiative targeted at group members to engage with young people in a meaningful way with each ward contributing £3,425.

"And with the Community Futures initiative this is revisiting the Community Action Plan for Cardenden five years after the initial plan was created.

"This a request to match funding provided by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust who are also providing a worker to support the process. This would come from the Ward 8 budget."

Convener Linda Erskine and vice convener Rosemary Liewald backed by Councillor Mary Lockhart all felt that this was an important stage in the Futures process and the committee were supportive of all the projects.

The committee agreed to back the funding requests.