WELL over 1,000 people took part in the Fife Council’s unique “Oorbit” consultation in the communities of Central Fife and a whole host of projects will now be put into action thanks to the backing of a pot of £250,000.

Over 1,400 people from the Cowdenbeath area have been voting on their favourite local projects as part of a bid to involve the community in deciding local spending priorities.

And now 14 projects close to people’s hearts will be backed and Cowdenbeath Area Committee heard on Wednesday that these will see the mining heritage of Cowdenbeath preserved; the Lumphinnans Pond given a complete upgrade; a skater park in Hill of Beath; a new youth club facility in Lochgelly; the war memorial in Benarty lit up; a Multi Use Games Area in Crossgates; and Wallsgreen Park in Cardenden lit.

Fife Council’s Cowdenbeath Area Manager, Kevin Sayer, was the driving force behind the project – one of the first of its kind in Scotland.

He commented: “£250,000 was made available through the council’s Cowdenbeath Area Committee in partnership with Community Councils and other community organisations to encourage local people of all ages to come up with ideas to improve “oor bit” of Fife.

“A steering group made up of 19 local community representatives was supported by the council and Pauline Grandison from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust. Citizens from as young as eight years-old were given a say and we had great support from Democratic Scotland, the D21 on-line polling website and the Your Priorities polling website.”

In the first phase, which ran over the summer, local people generated over 150 ideas online and by completing and returning postcards. Those ideas were then reviewed by the steering group and a short-list of 30 projects were put to the public vote at a series of meetings over the past four weeks and online.

Lochs councillor, Alex Campbell, said: "The engagement from the people of the district has been unbelievable and I would thank everyone who has promoted the idea and those who voted."

The winning projects were announced at Wednesday's meeting of the Area Committee.

Chair, Cllr Mark Hood, commented: “This has been a fantastic process where local people have taken control of their own destinies.

"I’m looking forward to seeing all of these projects make a real difference in our local communities and how this project can serve as a blueprint to encourage similar work across Fife.”