There were emotional scenes as residents of Cupar came face-to-face with council officials at a public meeting to discuss the future of a closure-threatened care home.
Northeden House faces the axe as Fife Council bids to shave millions of pounds of its annual budget.
Members of the public packed into the Age Concern building last night to air their views.
The evening started with a petition hand-over to local authority chiefs.
It contained the names of almost 4000 people opposed to closure something that was heralded as “phenomenal” given the population of Cupar is only around 8000.
Members of Fife Council’s social work and health committee are set to decide the fate of local authority-run care homes at a meeting on Tuesday.
Options open to councillors include the retention of all 10 homes operated by the council. However, there are widespread fears that many homes, including Northeden, will be either closed or sold off to the private sector.
Last night’s gathering was chaired by independent Cupar Councillor Bryan Poole, who is desperate to see Northeden House retained.
The meeting featured some heated exchanges, particularly when Tory councillors suggested private sector ownership presented the best way forward for homes such as Northeden.InvestigationMeanwhile, many members of the public called for a “thorough investigation” of potential cost-cutting measures, which could be enough to ensure care homes remain in local authority ownership.
While the overwhelming mood of the meeting was a desire to see Northeden retained in council ownership, there is a fear that may simply be unrealistic.
“Administration representatives seemed to be suggesting that the council could not afford to keep running care homes such as Northeden,” Mr Poole said.
“To me what was striking was that there has been no detailed examination of how it might be possible to cut costs but keep running the facilities. Many people are quite rightly concerned about that.
“I understand the need to reach a decision fairly quickly, but they should certainly be looking at reducing costs that they do not appear to have done so is disappointing.”
Many people present at last night’s meeting pointed out that the quality of care on offer at care homes should be the most important factor.
“I believe in common with many others the quality of care in council homes is superior to that in privately-run facilities,” Mr Poole said.
“The private sector may offer good care, but I really don’t think it is as good as that offered by the council.”
Mr Poole described the turn-out at the meeting as “fantastic.”
“To see about 70 people turning up was great,” the councillor said. “The campaigners also handed over a petition which contained 3970 signatures I would describe that as phenomenal.”