COWDENBEATH Area Committee members said goodbye to two of the councillors at last Wednesday’s meeting.

It was announced at the beginning of last week that the by-elections for the Lochs and Cowdenbeath wards would be held on 22nd May, the date of the European Parliament elections.

Jayne Baxter, one of the three Cowdenbeath councillors, has been combining the role with that of being a List MSP, for the past few months while Lochs member, Alex Rowley, has been doing likewise since he won the Cowdenbeath Holyrood By-election in January.

The pair stood down last week and committee chairman, Councillor Willie Clarke, thanked them both for their work for the constituents of the Cowdenbeath and Lochs wards respectively.

Mr Clarke said that both of them had been active members of the Labour Party for many years but had taken different paths into council business.

Ms Baxter, he pointed out, had worked for the local authority for some years before being persuaded to stand as a candidate at the 2012 elections.

She was elected as one of the trio of representatives of the Cowdenbeath ward,which encompasses Crossgates and Hill of Beath and the town, and in the past two years had been involved in a number of important local issues, with the move to remove major eyesores in the town being a major one for her.

The chairman explained that Alex Rowley had been involved in the political arena from a relatively young age and had served Labour in a number of roles, including that of Scottish secretary and also election agent to MP Gordon Brown.

He went on, “Both Jayne and Alex have moved on to become MSPs and have decided that it is right that they step aside and let other people take on the roles of councillors for these wards.

“Can I say that both of them have been forceful members of this committee in driving local issues forward. Alex has been a Lochs councillor since 2007 and in that time he has also filled the role of Opposition leader and then since 2012, leader of the Council administration. Through his time on the committee he has been a driving force behind the moves being made to carry out improvements to Lochore Meadows Country Park and also in the move to build a new Benarty Community Centre.

“Jayne has been vice-chair of the Area Committee over the past two years and has done a lot to follow through many important Cowdenbeath issues and I know that at the Parliament she is carrying on the bid to strenghten local authorities’ hands in tackling derelict property which blights many communities.

“The two of them have been hard and dedicated workers for Cowdenbeath Area Committee and I wish them well in their Parliamentary roles.

“But while they will be missed we now look forward to welcoming aboard two new members, after the by-elections, who I am sure will make their own mark on the committee.” The members of the Area Committee wished both Ms Baxter and Mr Rowley every success in their roles at the Scottish Parliament.