Fife Council is being urged to end “five decades of uncertainty” for people living in an area of Cowdenbeath.
Conservative Councillor Darren Watt has tabled a motion at Thursday’s full council meeting asking the local authority to repair unadopted areas around Johnston Park before fully adopting and assuming responsibility for the entire estate.
“It is truly is a ridiculous situation the residents find themselves in,” he said.
“They are financially responsible for the repairs and maintenance of certain public footpaths and sections of roads based on some obscure interpretation of wording from a paragraph in a document dating back to the early seventies.
“Also, there has been a farcical misinterpretation at some point where Fife Council has mistaken the rear of the properties for the front.
“This has been a long-fought battle by residents and time after time the local authorities have kicked this issue into the long grass and we’ve now reached a critical point where these unadopted areas have fallen in to such a state of disrepair, they now pose a serious risk to the safety and wellbeing of the public.”
He added residents were rightly refusing to stump up cash for repairs, but with the council not willing to adopt roads until they are at a certain standard, stalemate reigned.
Of the 77 properties, 11 belong to Fife Housing Group and 66 are privately owned.
“Homes have been bought in Johnston Park as recently as two years ago and purchasers only found out about this saga after they moved in and were informed by Fife Housing Association at a meeting held in September 2016,” he said.
One local Chris Hoffland said Fife Council and FHG should combine their resources to put the matter right and not attempt to burden already financially stretched taxpayers and ratepayers.
Another resident Bill Hunter said householders had been trying for years to resolve the problem.
Mr Watt added: “I hope we receive the support on Thursday from other councillors.
“This situation has gone on long enough and is seriously affecting the health and wellbeing of some residents.
“This sorry saga needs to be resolved once and for all.”