Kirkcaldy councillors have been told they were within their rights to grant £100,000 towards electrical works at Burntisland Links.
The grant from the Burntisland Common Good Fund was reviewed after external auditors concluded the Kirkcaldy area committee was not fully informed when members made the decision.
The councillors had been asked to step in following issues with the electricity supply at the Links and fears the Showmen’s Guild would pull the plug on the seaside town’s annual funfair.
The committee was told this week it had acted within its powers.
However, the council was asked to clarify its policy on common good funding as a result of the audit and officials will now look again at guidelines drawn up in 2014.
Labour councillor Gordon Langlands raised a motion calling for an additional report to be brought before the committee, with details about the lease at Burntisland Links.
“I’m just hoping that this follow up report will answer a lot of the misconceptions that came about because of our original decision made back in April 2019, and I hope to receive this report before the next summer fair,” said Mr Langlands.
“Hopefully it will be 2021, but if not 2022.”
Fellow Labour councillor Judy Hamilton backed the motion and highlighted the Travelling Funfairs (Licensing) (Scotland) Bill, which she said could affect arrangements for the Burntisland funfair.
She said: “I do accept the report that’s before us today but I recognise that there are a lot of issues around the common good.
“I do understand as well that there is a bill going through parliament as we speak in the name of Richard Lyle, which will regulate all these leases and licences with the Showmen’s Guild, so that might change again.
“I think it’s really important for us to get this information before the next show goes ahead.”
SNP councillor Lesley Backhouse called for clarity around the financial needs of the links area, saying it was a great asset to Burntisland that was used regularly by residents and visitors alike.
The Burntisland fair is one of the largest open air summer funfairs in Scotland and regularly draws thousands of visitors from across the country to the Fife coast, from the end of May right through to August.
However, the decision to spend £100,000 of common good cash towards the £160,000 total cost of the Links works proved divisive, with the town’s community council among those arguing the money should be spent on other projects.
