Surprise election in Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Kelty – the polls close on Sunday

oor bit
Voting ends on Sunday 27th November 2016 – have your say or your oor bit!

No, not another Council by-election in Fife but a novel consultation to involve locals in the deciding which projects merit Council spend.

The vote is based on individual honesty,  participants must live in the area and there are checks in place to help identify any potential fraud.

FIFE Council is calling on local residents in the Cowdenbeath area  to have their say on “Oor Bit” and vote for their favourite local projects.

£250,000 has been made available through Fife 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.

In the first phase, which ran over the summer, local people generated over 150 ideas online and by completing and returning postcards. These ideas have now been reviewed by a steering group of local people and council staff resulting in a short-list of 30 projects to be put to the public vote.

Area Manager Kevin Sayer commented: “I’d encourage everyone in the local area to get involved.”

Now it is your chance to decide how that £250,000 is spent in your local area.  To do so you must be over eight years of age and live in the Cowdenbeath Committee area.

Projects to vote on range from:

  • cycle routes
  • skate parks
  • outdoor gym equipment  and
  • community clean-ups.

Voting takes place at open public events and online via www.oorbit.d21.me

The vote kicked off in Lumphinnans on Saturday 29th October where members of the Lumphinnans Social Group went door-to-door with the ballot papers. While Hill of Beath hosted an event in the Community Centre on Tuesday 1st November, Crossgates followed on Sunday 6th November at the royal British Legion Club.

Other voting events were held in Cardenden, Lochgelly,  Benarty Centre.  With the  Kelty event being held on Saturday  26th November,

Voting will close with an event at Cowdenbeath Leisure Centre on Sunday 27th November.

Wednesday 30th November is the big day for the announcement of the successful projects.  This takes place at the Cowdenbeath Area Committee at its meeting in Hill of Beath Community Centre

Please do vote and you can do so online now!

Kevin added: “Anybody aged eight and over living or working in the Cowdenbeath area is eligible to vote. EVERY VOTE COUNTS – please attend the local events (look out locally and on local Facebook pages for more information) or vote online at www.oorbit.d21.me ”

 

Fife Community Council Elections 2014

This is a brief note to explain why we are making people aware of the Community Council Elections in 2014.

Fife Council are encouraging Fifers to stand and participate in their local community councils.  To that end we support the widening of the democratic process.  We would also encourage people to stand for elections such as Fife Council, Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.  The more variety we have the better.  it gives the electorate more choice.

Historically most but not all Community Councils just have enough people come forward to fill the majority of vacancies, and therefore there is no need for an election.

But what happens say…  if there are more candidates than vacancies?  The solution is simple there is then an election and the people in the community decide.

See http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/topics/index.cfm?fuseaction=service.display&p2sid=ABA5B599-0AE2-4337-836B-71162E5E1BB0&themeid=2B892409-722D-4F61-B1CC-7DE81CC06A90&promo=D6644429-AEAD-0625-0B08BAE09E2943D4#

This page says…

“Community councils are elected every 4 years.

The next Community Council elections will take place on Thursday, 13 November 2014.

See below for more information on how to stand as a candidate along with the election timetable and nomination pack. 

Please note that nomination papers should be returned to the council by no later than 4pm on Thursday, 16 October. “

As an aside it is important to fully complete the nomination papers, otherwise the candidate cannot stand.

Therefore if you would like to stand as a Community Councilor for your Community Council you can find your nomination papers here:-

http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication.pop&pubid=C1067AD6-CA74-1AFC-276DB4F017758572