FIFE Council’s co-leaders are to meet with the operators of the Mossmorran petro-chemical complex to see what the prospects are of compensation for the communities which have been affected by flaring and other issues connected with the site over the years.

David Alexander and David Ross agreed to take up the cudgels following Thursday night’s meeting of community councils at the Maxwell Centre, in Cowdenbeath, to examine what sort of approaches could be made to Exxon/Mobil and Shell who operate the Ethylene and NGL plants.

Every community council in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area was represented at the meeting, which saw a lot of anger expressed at what had been happening over the years with periods of flaring causing what was described as excessive noise and light along with other issues.

Also represented was the Mossmorran Action Group. and the Cowdenbeath area’s four councillors, Alistair Bain, Alex Campbell, Gary Guichan and Darren Watt also took part in the meeting.

At the end of the evening there was agreement that they all should go forward positively and put the wheels in motion to see if it would be possible to get a compensation mechanism in place, in collaboration with ExxonMobil and Shell.

Said Labour councillor Alex Campbell, who has been closely involved in Mossmorran issues for the past four years: “It really was an excellent turn out from the community councils and showed the strength of feeling about the effects of the petro plants on Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and the surrounding villages.

“Clearly there have been a lot of historical issues going back many years, but on the other side of the coin, they all felt that things have to move forward into a new era and David Alexander and David Ross are both committed to meeting with representatives of the companies and seek to see if some sort of compensation package can be put together.

“Both Exxon and Shell have expressed an interest in setting up a meeting so things are moving forward in a positive fashion.”

The delegation to meet with the companies’ representative will be David Alexander, David Ross, and chair of the Cowdenbeath Area Committee, Councillor Linda Erskine.

It is hoped that the meeting will go ahead over the next two to three weeks.