FIRSTLY I would like to thank your correspondent giving me another opportunity to inform people of the actual events concerning the building of the new centre at the Meedies.

Inside Left has certainly opened up a can of worms which could only be appreciated by the birds, accusing me of being against the new centre building.

My own position has been clear locally at meetings, and by statements as a matter of record, and that remains exactly the same today as it has been in the past, namely that I always welcome investment in the park.

However, an important question has to be asked in how that investment is spent. The Meedies requires to be developed in such a way that it serves the 650,000 visitors it annually welcomes and that development requires a centre that meets certain criteria.

The present building has a smaller footprint than the original centre and there is no provision to accommodate an outlet that could promote the park through the sale of craft items.

A museum had been proposed decades back that would reflect the mining past of Fife and also a more distant history back to when Scotland was formed as a nation. Apparently this was given no consideration.

To address the comments of who was present at the opening, if Inside Left was dissatisfied, he/she should contact Fife Council.

In fact I had no say whatsoever in the matter or arrangements. If I had the event would have taken place at a weekend and local people would certainly have attended and that was my stated position.

I would have also included people like Tom Dair and Alex Sharp, the previous chair and vice chair, along with Bill Taylor who worked alongside Maurice Taylor over many years developing the park. Also the late Willie Rowley, from Kelty, who correctly over the years, argued for development at the western end of the Meedies. It is a fact that I was the only person that made a mention of these people at the opening ceremony because I appreciate the important contribution they all made and it was disappointing there was no official recognition of them.

As to the reason for anger in Benarty about the new centre, this was born from the frustration of a total lack of consultation and the fact that shamelessly the council officials refused to attend local meetings. I have always believed that officials were the servants of people and not the other way around.

If Inside Left is really upset that Tories and Scottish Nationalists were being photographed then it should be raised with the organisers of the opening event, but there were many Labour councillors , MSPs and MPs present as well.

Politicians always appear at such openings and it will not surprise people to learn that some of them have had little or no contact at the park in the past.

The comments in last week's CFT illustrate the political leaning of the writer more than anything else and was clearly a poor attempt to introduce party politics to a local issue.

I am not so confident that last week's writer knows their left from their right, but as a widely recognised proponent of the left I would suggest you change to Outside Right which would seem a better description of your position in political terms.

WILLIE CLARKE,

Navitie Park,

Ballingry.