Councillors clash for the Common Good

David Knox 1607 - 1607 • Published 24 Apr 2009 12:30 5 Comments

A WAR of words has erupted over the historic ownership of parts of Peebles.

And it has resulted in one councillor being hauled up in front of the boss.

Hay Lodge Depot and a cottage on the land has been transferred into the

ownership of Scottish Borders Council from the town"s Common Good.

And ground at Walkershaugh has also been moved following a lengthy legal

investigation.

A report, which was voted through at yesterday"s Scottish Borders Council meeting, also found that two local authority plots at Victoria Park should be transferred to the Common Good"s asset list while the Burgh Hall Allotments are reclassified as belonging to the Chambers Institution.

The moves come after mistakes were found in the logging of ownership

going back decades.

But the changes have been met by mud-slinging and accusations.

And Tweeddale councillor Willie Archibald was ordered to report to the chief executive"s office following yesterday"s row.

He sited a junior official for information he"d been given about a lack of training.

And he also piled into colleague Graham Garvie for keeping correspondence from him.

Councillor Archibald said: 'There is outrage in Peebles over this.

'It is like a Thomas Hardy novel - the missing letters. I"d like to know why we didn"t see the letters from Peebles Civic Society which were addressed to Graham Garvie in his role as chairman of Tweeddale Area Committee.

'Councillors have had no training in the workings of Common Good and should not be making these decisions.'

Councillor Archibald was told that a full-day"s training in Common Good was included as part of each councillor"s induction and a refresher course had taken place earlier in the year.

The town"s Civic Society had questioned decisions made by Peebles Common

Good Fund Working Group over the ownership changes.

And it led to months of research by the local authority"s legal eagles.

Councillor Catriona Bhatia defended the ownership changes.

She said: 'The council is not raiding the Common Good, as is being suggested by some.

'A great deal of research has been done because of questions asked by the Civic Society. Just because people don"t like the answers doesn"t

mean they are not correct.'

Dozens of buildings and pieces of land donated to the town of Peebles are held as Common Good Fund assets.

But the Chambers Institution is held separate as it was donated in 1857 to benefit the whole county rather than just the town.

And it is thought that the adjoining allotments were wrongly transferred to the Common Good when Andrew Carnegie funded an extension to the library within the building.

Council lawyer Frank Drummond told the meeting: 'If someone was to say

to us, show us the title to Tweed Green we couldn"t.

'There are pieces of land all over Peebles without titles that makes it very difficult to decide on ownership.'

Members of Scottish Borders Council voted through recommendations from

their legal team to reclassify the land.

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This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 24 Apr 09

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• 

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  Conspiracy Theorist
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  Oct 7, 10:49
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  After the Peebblesshire News has sorted out all the spam on its website, maybe reporters could do a proper investigatative piece on all the 'common good' items that have gone missing over the years?
  
  Not only land, but valuable paintings, a very expensive Provosts Chain and other items have mysteriously gone AWOL, apparently.
  
  No wonder dignitaries and councillors are keen to sweep this under the carpet.
  
  C'mon the PN - let's see some proper journalism and expose what's going on here!!
  
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