56°11′N3°05′W / 56.18°N 3.09°W /56.18; -3.09
| Kirkcaldy | |
|---|---|
| District | |
 Kirkcaldy Town House | |
 Kirkcaldy district within Scotland | |
| Population | |
| • 1994 | 148,450 |
| History | |
| • Created | 16 May 1975 |
| • Abolished | 31 March 1996 |
| • Succeeded by | (Part of)Fife |
| Government | Kirkcaldy District Council |
| • HQ | Kirkcaldy |
Kirkcaldy (Scottish Gaelic:Dùn Phàrlain,Scots:Dunfaurlin) was alocal governmentdistrict in theFiferegion ofScotland from 1975 to 1996. The district was named after the town ofKirkcaldy but also covered a wider area, including the Fife regional capital ofGlenrothes.[1]
As its name suggests, the district (one of three in the Fife region, along withDunfermline andNorth-East Fife) was centred around the town ofKirkcaldy, an importantroyal burgh in thehistoric county ofFife, although its boundaries extended some way beyond the town. The district was created in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across mainland Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Kirkcaldy was one of three districts created within the region of Fife along withDunfermline andNorth-East Fife. The district covered the whole area of nine former districts and part of two others from thehistoric county of Fife, which were all abolished at the same time:[2]
Apart from the main built-up area of Kirkcaldy itself, the district therefore encompassed theLevenmouth conurbation, coastal villages such asBurntisland, mining communities includingCardenden, and the expandingnew town ofGlenrothes which was chosen as the regional capital for Fife and had its own Development Corporation, but was required to seek agreement with the District Council at Kirkcaldy (essentially the rival town) for matters at local level, a situation which frequently caused tensions between the administrations.[3] It had thesixth-largest population of the 53 districts of the era. Other than its two Fife neighbours to the north and south and theNorth Sea to the east, Kirkcaldy had a short western border withPerth and Kinross district in theTayside region.
In 1996 Scotland's districts and regions were abolished under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. Fife became a singleunitary council area, headquartered inGlenrothes as the regional council had also been.[4] Similar boundaries as those of Kirkcaldy district have since been re-used as 'Mid Fife' or 'Central Fife' for some purposes such as local economic planning and policing,[5] although Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy are often split into separate controlling entities owing to their size, with settlements further west aroundCowdenbeath incorporated to increase the populations if required, as in theScottish Parliamentary constituencies.[6][7]
The first election to the district council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 16 May 1975. Political control of the council from 1975 was as follows:[8]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1975–1977 | |
| No overall control | 1977–1980 | |
| Labour | 1980–1996 | |
The council was based atKirkcaldy Town House at 2 Wemyssfield in Kirkcaldy, which had been completed in 1956 for the former Kirkcaldy Town Council.[9]
Local government areas ofScotland, in use 1975 to 1996 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Borders |  | |
| Central | ||
| Dumfries and Galloway | ||
| Fife | ||
| Grampian | ||
| Highland | ||
| Lothian | ||
| Strathclyde | ||
| Tayside | ||
| Island areas1 | ||