WEST FIFERS most affected by the devastating loss of Longannet Power Station will get the chance to make their voices heard next week.

The Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT) is hosting a conference on the closure in Kincardine on Thursday, July 28.

The CRT has launched its own Coalfields Longannet Initiative to work with the Government-appointed Task Force and Fife Council, using their expertise in inspiring community involvement, to help ensure that regeneration initiatives meet the needs and ambitions of local people.

The trust has already helped seven villages in Fife and Clackmannan who will be hardest hit devise five-year community action plans to secure a better future for their area through its Coalfields Community Futures programme. They are: Bowmar, Clackmannan, Oakley and Comrie, Saline and Steelend, Valleyfield, Blairhall and Kincardine.

Pauline Douglas, the CRT’s head of operations in Scotland, who comes from Kincardine, said: “One of our biggest challenges is to ensure that any solutions are driven from the ground up by local people, rather than imposed from above.

“We have already appointed Gary Porter, an employment and skills training expert, who is working on the ground, talking to local people and small businesses about their issues and priorities.”

Mr Porter said: “We expect a big turnout from local residents, councils, community organisations, businesses and Task Force officers, to lay the first foundations for some sort of Longannet Community Plan.”

The conference will be held in Kincardine Community Centre, 10am-2pm, on July 28. CRT chief exceutive Gary Ellis and Fife Council leader and Task Force co-chair David Ross will be among the speakers.