I REFER to your coverage of Benarty Gala and other matters. I am delighted that the Gala went ahead, despite the vandalism to the toilets, and that Benarty Events Group (BEG) have delivered yet another successful event.

In your article, Eddie Easson, chair of BEG, praised the response of local businesses to replace the toilets. He does not mention the work carried out by Lochore Meadows staff to clear up the damage left by the fire. To be fair, he does refer to the ‘fantastic clean up job’ by LMCP staff on his facebook page.

In the article, Mr Easson mentions the new fees and charges introduced for events in the Park as an ‘obstacle.’ These are being introduced to ensure that groups and businesses who use the Park and sell tickets for their events or charge for participation pay something back towards the upkeep of the Park.

The fire means that a section of tarmac will have to be replaced and, because of the wet conditions before the gala, damage was also done by vehicles coming onto the grass. As is mentioned elsewhere in the Times, the fees and charges are being reviewed as part of a Fife-wide exercise of the Council’s Events Management policy and practice.

Next Mr Easson notes that BEG did not receive any grants from Cowdenbeath Area Committee this year. The Committee has a limited amount of funding and concentrates on helping local groups who have little or no funding. This is especially true of new groups and BEG was supported by the Area Committee in its early years.

When BEG applied for funding this year, their annual accounts revealed that the group made over £50,000 surplus on running Rockore last week and had over £100,000 in the bank at its year end. Councillors felt that additional support was not needed. The Committee will always be ready to help any community group in financial difficulty and, should BEG have a bad year, I am sure the Committee would be more than willing to support them.

Finally Mr Easson makes reference to social media attacks on the group. He neglects to mention that some members and supporters of BEG have vilified Ian Laing and his staff as well as one of the local councillors in response to the fees and charges issue through one of the local community facebook pages.

KEVIN SAYER.

Community Manager (Cowdenbeath Area).

(Mr Easson did thank the the park staff for cleaning up the mess after the fire in his comments published).