Community Organisations Explained
There is much confusion about the roles of the Community Council, Community Associations and Community Trust.
Here is a brief explanation.
Fife Council
Many years ago every town in Fife (including Auchtermuchty) had its own Burgh Council and the villages and countryside were covered by the County Council. Back in the 1970s the burgh and county councils were abolished and in their place we had a NE Fife District Council and Fife Regional Council – they have since been amalgamated into one Fife Council. Fife Council is responsible for delivering numerous local services such as education, social work, local roads and harbours, waste management etc.
Since 2007 all Scottish council wards are multi-member so in our area we have three Fife councillors who represent the Howe of Fife and Tay Coast, an area which extends from west of Gateside to nearly as far as Balmerino and including Newburgh, Ladybank, Rathillet and Falkland.
Community Council
In order to maintain a more local connection with the public every town or village has a Community Council (CC).
In this area this is the Auchtermuchty & Strathmiglo Community Council which serves Auchtermuchty, Dunshalt, Strathmiglo and Gateside with each village having three community councillors. The CC is a statutory body and the councillors are elected at the CC elections every five years. Community councillors are volunteers and don’t receive any payment for the work they do.
The CC deals with any matters or issues which need to be fed back to Fife Council. In particular it examines local planning applications and can ask to be a consultee on any application.
The CC receives a small payment from Fife Council every year to cover hall rents and stationery etc. and any surplus at the end of the year is distributed to the four Community Associations.
It meets on the last Monday of every month except July and December and meetings are open to the public.
Community Association
In addition each village has its own community association. This is peculiar to our area because in most places the community council only represents one town or village. Our community council represents four separate communities so each of those communities has its own association.
These are non-statutory bodies and meet to discuss local issues and can organise local events such as galas, street parties etc..
Community Trust
The Community Trust was originally formed as the Auchtermuchty Community Trust in 2012 to look at taking the Auchtermuchty Town hall and Victoria Hall into community ownership. It is a registered charity and has been the sponsor of several local projects in Auchtermuchty.
More recently it has collaborated with the Community Council, holding several public meetings and surveys, to produce a Local Place Plan which will inform the next Local Development Plan (LDP) to be produced by Fife Council. The LDP determines which areas of villages should be set aside for housing, commercial use, parks etc. so is very important to the development of our area.
As a spin-off from this exercise the Trust and Community Council have also published a Community Action Plan which reflects the ideas and aspirations voiced by members of the public during the consultation. As this document reflects the entire Community Council area the Trust has now reforned itself as the Auchtermuchty & Strathmiglo Trust and now covers the same area as the Community Council. ie Auchtermuchty, Dunshalt, Strathmiglo and Gateside with trustees from each of the communities.
Today it has a wider remit of advancing community development, and providing recreational facilities, or organise recreational activities for the community so as to enhance the conditions of life for those living in our communities.
The Local Place Plan and the Community Action Plan can both be viewed here:
Auchtermuchty Community Centre
Finally we have the Auchtermuchty Community Centre! This is an independent organisation, partly funded by Fife Council, which exists to provide facilities to local organisations. It is not connected to the Community Council.
Web links:
Fife Council www.fife.gov.uk
Community Trust www.auchtermuchtytrust.org
Community Centre www.auchtermuchtycommunitycentre.org.uk
Dunshalt Community Association www.dunshaltvillage.co.uk/community-association
Gateside Community Association www.gateside-fife.org.uk
Each of the organisations mentioned also has a Facebook page.