Levenmouth

But, what is Levenmouth ?

"Levenmouth is a small Scottish conurbation consisting of three neighbouring coastal towns and two further inland villages." ( eh? )

In the mid 1970's, when the name was announced publicly as appropriate for the area, that is how it was perceived by the local people at that time.
Local identities were being suppressed suddenly and overnight in an apparent effort to reduce cost.
Since local councils were abolished in 1975, there wasn't much that local people in each town had to say about it.

Towns, villages and sub-areas
Levenmouth (i.e.: the area around the mouth of the River Leven) consisted of the following towns:
Buckhaven (including the areas of The Bird Scheme, Denbeath and Muiredge
Methil (including the areas of Aberhill, Kirkland, The Sea Road, Inner-Leven and Methilhill)
Leven (including the areas of Scoonie, The Broom and Mountfleurie)

The Burgh of Buckhaven and Methil
The Burgh of Buckhaven and Methil was formed in 1891 and had it's own burgh council until 1975.
Both towns had gradually expanded and combined with smaller villages and hamlets until they were given the joined identity of a single burgh between 1891 and 1975
(i.e./ until Burghs and Town Councils were abolished).
However, Buckhaven and Methil have separate identities to this day amongst the people that live there, despite physically having a single built-up area.

Buckhaven and Methil lie on the western side of the mouth of The River Leven.
Leven was a separate burgh and is still a separate town with its own history and identity, on the eastern side of the mouth of The River Leven.

Between Methil and Leven is the last part of The River Leven, which flows from Loch Leven in Kinross, until it gets to the Forth Estuary.
The mouth of the River Leven lies just after the "Bawbee Brig", which neatly spans the river joining Leven to Buckhaven and Methil. (There is a less substantial, side road, second bridge a hundred yards upstream)
These three towns can be seen as forming an obviously joined up area.

Apparently, Kennoway, Windygates and East Wemyss were also declared part of Levenmouth by the Fife Regional Council's original declaration, although that didn't seem to be a shining clarity in the minds of everyone, not even those with an all perceiving eye towards public clarity
.
(we wurny awe jaïnt the gither yeh ken, n' still urny!)

Since the abolition of town councils on the 16th of May 1975, local decisions are no longer local, but are decided upon by "councilors" and council officials at a centralised Fife "Area Council" organisation based in Glenrothes.

Present day Fife, one of 32 Unitary Authorities of Scotland, covers a territory roughly equivalent to what was once described as a Kingdom, Mormaerdom a wheen of other defunct descriptions, before more recently being called a county and then a region. Now it doesn't really have a description other than the misnomer of a "Local Government" and Fife Council Area, or Fife Unitary Authority.
(whit a sham - oops, I meant whit a shem)

Levenmouth is the name given to an arbitrarily imposed Fife Council designated sub-territory, of the Fife Area Council's, Scottish Government assigned territory.

According to the graphic map description given by Fife Council, May 2007+ Levenmouth includes the following towns and villages:
Buckhaven
Methil
Leven
Kennoway
Windygates
East Wemyss
Coaltown of Wemyss
West Wemyss
Lundin Links
Upper Largo
Lower Largo
Drumeldrie
Bonnybank
Balcurvie


(the names on the map were added to the Fife council graphic by us
and are only approximately positioned)

It would seem likely that "Fife Council's Levenmouth" has probably increased in size because of the two new wards created in May 2007, when proportional representation was used for council elections for the first time. The two new wards cover the area that included the towns and villages previously collectively defined as Levenmouth. However, the two new wards also have other towns and villages within their boundaries. The combined area of "Wards" 22 & 23 (existing since May 2007) does not exactly equate to the previously defined Levenmouth area.
The new Fife Council Levenmouth Area, has new names added to its list.

"Fife Council's Levenmouth" has a committee, made up of members of Fife Council. Fife Council's Levenmouth Committee has the responsibility of deciding about (at least some of) the matters concerning the people in all the towns and villages of the area. It is certainly not a directly elected body under a dedicated and unique constitution dealing solely with the local affairs and matters concerning the people living in "Levenmouth". Local people have neither been consulted nor considered as having a valid opinion about how their local area should be either delineated or governed.

"Fife Council's Levenmouth" looks like a financial and practical convenience for bureaucrats and officials. It does not look like an attempt to create either a new combined-town or some other local-area reality. This isn't an attractive and sought after identity creative project, chosen by the people who live there. Surely encouraging people to care more about where they live would be a positive contribution towards making the area around the mouth of the River Leven more efficient, enjoyable and desirable for everyone in Fife.

N.B./ Some of Fife Council's on-line maps showing politically differentiated local areas are out of date and in consequence, they are somewhat contradictory. The Fife Council map of local areas published in 2003, depicts Levenmouth as neither including the two westernmost Wemyss villages (i.e./ it included only East Wemyss), nor the 3 Largo Bay villages. HOWEVER, according to a map published in 2007 (presumably after May), the new "Levenmouth" is defined by the multi-member Wards 22 & 23, to include all of the towns and villages and surrounding areas listed above. (i.e./ as seen on this map[2].)

The combined population of the [Levenmouth] towns and villages was estimated at around 31,410 in 2006.[5]. However, the actual area referred to is not definitively clear to the common eye. One might presume it would be a few thousand people higher in number.

References