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Levenmouth is a small Scottish conurbation consisting of three neighbouring coastal towns, eleven further inland towns or villages with various smaller hamlets or similar equivalents.
nmouth (the area around the mouth of the River Leven) consists of the following towns:
OR, at least that is how it had been perceived by local people who lived there in the mid 1970's, when the name was announced publicly as appropriate for the area.
Buckhaven and Methil have separate identities to this day amongst the people that live there, but physically they form a single built-up area.
They both gradually expanded and combined with smaller villages and hamlets until they were given the joined identity of a single burgh between 1891 and 1975 (i.e./ till Burghs and Town Councils were abolished).
Buckhaven and Methil lie on the western side of the mouth of The River Leven.
Leven is a separate town with its own history, on the eastern side of the mouth of The River Leven.
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Encyclopedia
Levenmouth is a small Scottish conurbation consisting of three neighbouring coastal towns, eleven further inland towns or villages with various smaller hamlets or similar equivalents.
Towns, villages and sub-areas
Levenmouth (the area around the mouth of the River Leven) consists of the following towns:
- Buckhaven (and sub-areas Denbeath and Muiredge)
- Methil (and sub-areas Aberhill, Kirkland, Innerleven and Methilhill)
- Leven (and sub-areas Broom and Mountfleurie)
OR, at least that is how it had been perceived by local people who lived there in the mid 1970's, when the name was announced publicly as appropriate for the area.
Buckhaven and Methil have separate identities to this day amongst the people that live there, but physically they form a single built-up area.
They both gradually expanded and combined with smaller villages and hamlets until they were given the joined identity of a single burgh between 1891 and 1975 (i.e./ till Burghs and Town Councils were abolished).
Buckhaven and Methil lie on the western side of the mouth of The River Leven.
Leven is a separate town with its own history, on the eastern side of the mouth of The River Leven.
The River Leven flows from Loch Leven in Kinross, until it gets to the Forth Estuary. The mouth of the river lies just after the "Bawbee Brig", which neatly spans the river joining Leven to Buckhaven and Methil. These towns form the an obviously contiguous conurbation.
Kennoway, Windygates and East Wemyss were also part of it from the beginning apparently, although that didn't seem to be a shining clarity in the minds of everyone, even those with an eye towards public clarity. (we wurny awe jaint the gither yeh ken)
The Burgh of Buckhaven and Methil had its own council till 1975.
The Burgh of Leven had its own council till 1975.
Since the abolition of town councils on the 16th of May 1975, local decisions are no longer local, but are decided upon by "councillors" and council officials at a centralised "Area Council" organisation in Glenrothes. Present day Fife, one of 32 Unitary Authorities of Scotland, covers a territory roughly equivalent to what was once described as a Kingdom, a wheen of other descriptions including Mormaerdom, before more recently being called a county and then a region. Now it doesn't really have a description other than the misnomer of a "Local Government" Council Area, or Unitary Authority.
Levenmouth is the name given to an arbitrarily imposed Fife Council designated sub-territory, of the Fife Area Councils total territory.
According to the graphic (map) description given by Fife Council, May 2007+ Levenmouth includes the following towns and villages:
It would seem likely that "Fife Councils Levenmouth" has probably increased in size because of the two new wards created in May 2007, when proportional representation was used for council elections for the first time. The two new wards cover the area that included the towns and villages previously collectively defined as Levenmouth. However, the two new wards also have other towns and villages within their boundaries. The combined area of "Wards" 22 & 23 (existing since May 2007) does not exactly equate to the previously defined Levenmouth area. The new Levenmouth has new names added to its list.
"Fife Councils Levenmouth" has a committee, made up of members of Fife Council. Fife Councils Levenmouth Committee has the responsibility of deciding about (at least some of) the matters concerning the people in all the towns and villages of the area. It is certainly not a directly elected body under a dedicated and unique constitution dealing solely with the local affairs and matters concerning the people living in "Levenmouth". Local people have neither been consulted nor considered as having a valid opinion about how their local area should be either delineated or governed.
"Fife Councils Levenmouth" looks like a financial and practical convenience for bureaucrats and officials. It does not look like an attempt to create either a new combined-town or some other local-area reality. This isn't an attractive and sought after identity creative project, chosen by the people who live there. Surely encouraging people to care more about where they live would be a positive contribution towards making the area around the mouth of the River Leven more efficient, enjoyable and desirable for everyone in Fife.
N.B./ Some of Fife Councils on-line maps showing politically differentiated local areas are out of date and in consequence, they are somewhat contradictory.
The Fife Council map of local areas published in 2003, depicts Levenmouth as neither including the two westernmost Wemyss villages (i.e./ it included only East Wemyss), nor the 3 Largo Bay villages. HOWEVER, according to a map published in 2007 (presumably after May), the new "Levenmouth" is defined by the multi-member Wards 22 & 23, to include all of the towns and villages and surrounding areas listed above. (i.e./ as seen on this map.)
The combined population of the [Levenmouth] towns and villages was estimated at around 31,410 in 2006.. The new Levenmouth enlarged area has a population level of 37,238 people , according to most recent figures publically available.
(please also refer to figure 4: below)
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