Dozens of residents hit the rain-soaked streets of Cupar on Saturday to protest against council cutbacks.
The march through the town was organised by local resident Steven Stewart. He said the sheer scale of cuts and a perceived lack of consultation surrounding them had spurred him into action.
“I just felt I had to do something,” Mr Stewart told The Courier. “The council seem to think they can just make reductions and that nobody will care.
“No local meaningful consultation has been put in place to see what people actually think of things like care home closures and the removal of public toilets.
“Fife Council appears to be railroading huge cutbacks through without listening to public opinion.”
Saturday’s demonstration began at the Corn Exchange and ended with the protesters posting a petition through the letterbox at Liberal Democrat HQ.
Containing around 400 names, the document bemoaned the lack of public consultation prior to swingeing budget cuts.
“We all appreciate that cuts are required what is concerning is the lack of engagement with local residents,” Mr Stewart said.
“I would like to thank all the local shops and pubs which took copies of the petition and also everybody who turned up for today’s event.”
Protesters from St Andrews, Methil and Leven were among those joining in the march.
Councillors also attended among them independent member Bryan Poole, who was delighted to be asked to address the protesters during the rally.
“I was pleased to see an event such as this organised, not by politicians but by members of the local community,” Mr Poole said.
“Steven Stewart is just a Cupar guy who is fed up with the way cutbacks have been handled. People are really concerned by what is going on at the moment… and it is important for communities to feel that they can drive change.”
Mr Poole lays the blame for Fife’s current woes firmly at the feet of Britain’s bankers.
“This all comes down to irresponsible bankers who were using our money like gambling tokens,” he said. “Despite them getting us into this mess, they are not the ones paying for it.
“Steven deserves a lot of credit for organising this demonstration. Positive action such as this is very worthwhile.”