COMMUNITIES affected by the closure of Longannet Power Station have been “thrown to the wolves” by Scottish Power.

That’s the claim from the Longannet Initiative Strategic Partnership (LISP) which was set up to help the area bounce back after the job’s blow when the plant shut in 2016.

Trevor Docherty, a member of the partnership and treasurer of the Kincardine Development Trust, said: “The message Scottish Power seems to be sending to the local community is we have shut up shop and you are getting nothing.

“They are a multi-national, which has reaped the financial benefits of this power station for almost 50 years but now they don’t want to engage with the community in any way, and they certainly don’t seem to want to spend a penny helping us recover from their plant’s closure.”

They’re angry after three organisations bid for financial support from the energy giant’s charitable organisation and all three were rejected.

The partnership said Scottish Power have ignored pleas for help and done nothing in the two years since the closure to help the area, which has had to suffer the economic fall-out of the loss of 230 direct jobs and an estimated 1,000 indirect jobs.

Kincardine Community Council chairman, Donald Campbell, is also in the partnership and added: “The former Kincardine Power station was demolished 20 years ago but Scottish Power have done nothing with this site and there is a fear that the same again will happen with Longannet.”

Dunfermline MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “I share the partnership’s frustration over the inaction of Scottish Power since the closure of Longannet.

"There are countless examples from across Scotland where large employers have closed their operations whilst leaving behind a legacy for the local community.

"It’s deeply concerning that Scottish Power are refusing to do the same in West Fife.”

She added: “I sincerely hope that they rethink their approach and demonstrate some meaningful engagement with the community.”

Simon Warr, of West Fife Enterprise, accused the company of “washing their hands of any responsibility” over Longannet.

“We were encouraged to apply to its Scottish Power Foundation for financial support,” he said. “If we had been successful, it could have taken our organisation to the next level, made us much more financially secure and enabled us to help more young people into work or training.”

Nicky Wilson, Scottish Trustee of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, said: “We invested £250,000 of our own funds to convert the former bank building in Kincardine into a state of the art training and enterprise hub with matched funding from the Scottish Government via Fife Council but our application to the Scottish Power Foundation for funding to offer employability skills training courses was rejected out of hand.”

A Scottish Power spokesperson said they were “actively engaged” with the communities and added: “The Valleyfield Liaison Group meets on a regular basis and all local community councils are invited to attend. Most do and there is an opportunity to discuss community initiatives.

“We are in regular contact with Fife Council regarding the ongoing demolition works and long-term planning for the future of the site. Our community team will contact the partnership and we believe we can work positively with them going forward.”

They added that the foundation is an independent charity that reviews all funding requests impartially, adding: "Awards are purely made based on the merits of individual projects against very specific criteria.”