RESIGNATION statements from the chairman and vice chair of Peebles and District Community Council (PCC) hit out at Scottish Borders Council (SBC), its officers and councillors.

Last Thursday, Les Turnbull, the PCC chairman for the past three years, said he was “scunnered by the antics of SBC, including some of its officers and councillors”.

Mr Turnbull read his statement and moments later, stating there was no collusion between the pair, read out a similar statement from the vice chairman, Scott Rae, who was not at the meeting.

Mr Turnbull said: “Whilst councillors and SBC in general talk of community empowerment and engagement and working with the community, they are only interested if it agrees with their own narrow view. They seek views of the community, it seems, only to tick boxes.”

Mr Rae stated: “We’re a totally voluntary body – we receive no pay, no funding (beyond a yearly administrative grant), no training and no material support from the council. We do what we can with the skills and resources we have available to us.

“We do our best to represent the views of the local community to the council and other bodies and try to hold them to account on local issues, on behalf of the local community. However, particularly over the last year, it has become clear that we – the lowest level of local democracy and the one closest to, most representative of and most available to the people of Peebles – have little support from SBC or its elected representatives and are often simply ignored and occasionally belittled when we raise concerns on major issues for the town.”

Mr Turnbull criticised the decision to install a Puffin crossing in the Eastgate.

He said: “PCC never asked for there to be no crossing, only that, there be a holistic review of all traffic issues.

“Every one of our councillors chose to ignore the points made by PCC. I know that this junction is less safe and social media reports indicate that this junction is more dangerous for all users.”

Tempering his views slightly, Mr Turnbull said: “I have no desire to denigrate the whole of SBC, many of whom do a great job.

“I had hoped after the May elections we could have reset the relationship between PCC and SBC; it was not to be.

“Councillors and officers do not like to be challenged; this is a necessary function of PCC operating in a democracy and especially when we see errors being made.”

Mr Rae’s statement added: “There are a number of specific examples that have led me to stand down and they relate to the response to the recent vandalism, threats, intimidation and violence, the handling of the pedestrian crossing in the Eastgate, the management of community assets via Common Good and opaque committees, and the lack of support for community councils when dealing with complex issues such as complaints.”

Mr Turnbull said: “I wrote to the Tweeddale group of councillors asking questions, on behalf of PCC about the ongoing anti-social behaviour.

“To then publish the response, addressed to me, as chairman of PCC, on social media before I had a chance to read it and discuss it with colleagues; to present the letter as a response to our petition was disingenuous, discourteous and unprofessional.

“Well over 400 people signed the petition showing their support for our stance.”

Three elected members were present at the Burgh Hall on Thursday – Eric Small (Cons), Viv Thomson (SNP) and Julie Pirone (Cons).

Following the meeting, Ms Pirone issued a statement, speaking on behalf of all of the Tweeddale East and West councillors, which also include Drummond Begg (Lib Dem), Robin Tatler (Ind) and Marshall Douglas (SNP).

It read: “We all note Mr Turnbull and Mr Rae’s decisions to step down from Peebles Community Council. We thank them for their service, on behalf of the community of Peebles and look forward to working positively with the new members of the community council going forward. Every comment and suggestion made to us is always discussed and considered very carefully.”

A spokesperson for Scottish Borders Council added: “We note Mr Turnbull and Rae’s decisions to step down from the Peebles Community Council.

“We thank them for their service, on behalf of the community of Peebles and look forward to working positively with the new members of PCC going forward.”