HERE we go again ...
The never-ending issue of what to do with the travellers who pitch up and turn our roadsides into eyesore campsites is back on the agenda.
The cost of cleaning up the appalling mess left behind last year cannot be repeated.
So it is good to hear Fife Council WILL get tough and take action against those who deface our towns – and leave us with the bill.
Clearly the lessons of 2006 have been learned.
Legal action has been started and there are plans to create a stop-over site by the end of next month. Those steps will be welcomed by our communities.
But the biggest problem of all is how do you help a group of people who don’t always welcome your input?
While it is true that not all travellers have a ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude, the camps which have sprung up around Kirkcaldy have all ended in the same chaos and mess.
The legal system is also still too slow to move.
It will still take at least 14 days to get an enforcement order – and an illegal camp can generate a lot of rubbish and mess in that time.
The Council can supply all the bags and skips in the world, but if the travellers won’t use them the end result is a bill for the cleaning up operation.
Creating a balance between two very different lifestyles isn’t easy.
And it is an issue which will probably never disappear ...

YOU can tell its an election year.
The pre-poll jitters seem to be striking judging by Fife Council's extraordinary decision to keep its budget proposals secret.
A local authority which likes to talk about openness and transparency has suddenly become more secretive than a gathering of MI5 agents. That is simply not acceptable.
The Budget is the single most important piece of business in the council calendar.
It sets OUR Council Tax rates for the coming year and determines just how much will be spent on the services we all rely upon.
It is entirely right and proper that taxpayers, opposition parties and the media get a chance to scrutinise every single figure and study the overall picture in as much detail as possible.
They should be challenged as robustly as possible — particularly in light of Fife Council's current precarious financial position, its attempts to impose a controversial single status pay deal on its staff, and amid talk of shunting leisure services into the hands of unknown and unaccountable trusts.
More than ever we should be able to subject every budget proposal to the closest scrutiny.
After all we will be the ones left to foot the bill long after the councillors have left the building in May.
The lack of transparency over the 2007 budget is a black day for Fife Council.

THE INTRODUCTION of Fife's Anti Social Behaviour taskforce couldn't have come at a better time.
People all over the Kingdom know the misery of living next door to a neighbour from hell, or the hassle of putting up with a troublemaker in their street content on making everyone's life a complete misery.
Although it's easy to dismiss these sorts of problems as less important, to people who are at the receiving end it's not at all funny. And if we are to make our communities safer and friendlier places we need to crackdown on these thoughtless people sooner rather than later before any more damage is done.
It's a relief to know that at last the problems faced by thousands of Fifers are being addressed and that these troublesome people are being dealt with. The tools to sort out these problems have been given to the organisations involved and progress is being made.
New legislation has helped them crack down on vandalism, noise and abusive behaviour that for all too long has been the blight of some of our communities.
The fact that there has already been a high volumes of calls shows the local community have support and need this kind of service and aren't prepared to put up with this any more.
The work that has already been done should be applauded and let's hope it carries on.

THE times they certainly are a changing.
Last week we revealed plans to create an urban regeneration group to revive our town centre.
This week? Bulldozers are set to demolish a factory which was once a major employer.
The name Babygro will be instantly recognisable to a generation or more of parents who popped in to buy the cheapest kids’ clothes around direct from the factory.
Long before Asda and Tesco even existed, Kirkcaldy’s bairns were clothed courtesy of the Babygro staff.
Then, along came the cheap foreign labour and the seeds of closure were planted.
It’s been empty for five years and the chances of it ever hosting new business are next to nil, so the move to demolish it and develop the land is the only way ahead.
If nothing is done the building will be systematically dismantled by the vandals anyway.
But as the bulldozers rev up, it’s worth asking one simple question – where is the next wave of Babygro factories for this town?
The economic decline of Kirkcaldy has been allowed to go unchecked for far too long.
We face the very real prospect of becoming just another commuter town for those who can’t afford to live in Edinburgh.
Kirkcaldy has so much more to offer than that.
In 2007 those in charge,  must work harder than ever to create create the foundations for economic recover.
And they must deliver.

THERE was a time not so long ago when the sight of the national media arriving at Stark’s Park meant more negative deadlines.
How far the club has come since Reclaim The Rovers secured new owners at the turn of the year was underlined this week with the arrival of Marvin Andrews.
As a signing this was a remarkable coup for the Division Two club – he comes direct from Rangers, has an impressive international pedigree and was on the wanted list of some huge teams – but it is his new role as the figurehead of a new youth development trust which speaks volumes for the new spirit at Stark’s Park.
Those who say not much has changed need to look at the bigger picture.
Would Andrews have come under the old regime?
The answer is no.
They simply didn’t have the vision or commitment, and didn’t seem to understand the concept of working in the community.
Would Craig Levein have come to work with the old guard? The words ‘’bargepole’’ and ‘’not with a’’ probably spring to mind.
There is still much to be done – the neglect at Stark’s Park runs deep. Levein showed journalists the barely adequate gym facilities under the stand this week – but slowly things are changing.
For once it has been a good news week at Stark’s.
It should be the first of many  ...

Would you like to be a Fife Free Press blogger?

If you would, but are somewhat confused about what all this blogging is really about, I'll have a go at explaining it all.

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal or newsletter that is updated and read by lots of people online and published on a website. The activity of updating is called blogging. The person who keeps a blog is called a blogger.

Blogs can be on any topic are are commonly the personal thoughts and feelings of the person or people who write them.

Got an idea for a blog? Send me your suggestions and you could soon be writing your very own blog. Email ffpeditor@fifetoday.co.uk

In addition to personal blogs, I am on the hunt for bloggers to write about their own town, village, community, club or sports group. You can report your local news and events and have your own space to chat to others about what's going on in your community -- and we'll feature saome of your on-line comments in the Fife Free Press, bringing them to an even wider audience.

So if you are interested in becoming a blogger with the FFP and Fifetoday, contact me today.

YOU wonder if Scottish Water gets many Christmas cards from round these parts.
Residents in Pathhead have lost count how many letters and complaints they’ve lodged over the Pathhead Pong.
Only now, years later, are they beginning to be able to draw breath – literally.
Town centre businesses are used to seeing sandbags piled up to repel the floods which seem to follow heavy downpours.
Fife Shopmobility has lost count of the times it has been flooded out of the Mercat basement.
And now out in Burntisland another spot of flooding has left another group of residents fed up.
No doubt some of the cases Scottish Water has to solve are complicated and yes they probably do have to deal with pumps and pipes which are well beyond their use-by date.
But there’s a common theme to almost every single story the Press runs when it comes to water-related chaos and misery.
People come to us because they’re fed up at nothing being done.
We get on to Scottish Water, they apologise and only then do the wheels start to turn. Slowly ...
The perception at least – and perception is everything – is of an organisation that is slow to respond or react.
And when, as in Burntisland, kids  have to wade through sewage to get to school, the complaints are wholly justified. The message to Scottish Water is simple – get it sorted.

Mr Smith lives in Dunnikier estate. He has a driveway, but he and his wife both need cars for their work, and their son has just bought his first car.
They keep one car in the driveway and two on the road - and nobody bothers. There’s plenty of room after all.
Mr Brown lives near the town centre. He has just one car, but has no driveway, and often struggles to find a space to park near his door.
And in his case someone does bother - Fife Council. It wants to take £80 a year from him.
The argument is that the Council has to do something to tackle congestion, but it’s interesting that it is looking to take £80 from Mr Brown, because the congestion is caused by Mr Smith and his family, who often leave their cars parked around the town centre.
Now, try explaining that one to Mr Brown.
The prospect of parking charges is always a thorny problem, but there’s something about charging residents in one part of the town and not in another that is always going to seem unfair, especially when those having to fork out cash see themselves as suffering quite enough already.
Our round-up of opinions not just from people living in the affected areas, but from councillors, shows a degree of opposition that suggests the new parking scheme needs not just fine tuning, but taken away and fundamentally  rethought.
It’s a question of fairness for everyone.