At the last meeting of the full Fife Council, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Dunfermline South James Calder asked about disparities in funding for Parks, Streets and Open Spaces in different areas of Fife. In particular he was concerned that the total that
Dunfermline received was almost £400,000 less than Kirkcaldy despite both towns being roughly equivalent in size (Dunfermline received after income the service received from other sources £1,395,496 while Kirkcaldy received £1,789,508).

Cllr. Calder has said,

After being questioned by some of my constituents, I have looked into the funding that each of the areas receives and was shocked to see Dunfermline is receiving almost £400,000 less than Kirkcaldy this year despite both being roughly the same population. As a result I raised this as a question at the most recent meeting of Fife Council.

While I didn’t receive the answer that I hoped for- that the SNP/Labour Administration would look to increase Dunfermline’s funding to equalise this service, I am pleased that Cllr. Vettraino has offered to meet me to discuss my concerns regarding this. Hopefully we can have a positive discussion to see what can be done to improve funding for this service locally after many years of damaging cuts, which many people are certainly noticing now in our green areas.