Community council to protest over area committee axe
SELKIRK community council is to voice its stern opposition on Monday to last month's decision by Scottish Borders Council (SBC) to scrap its Eildon Area Committee.
Chairman Gordon Edgar, a non-voting member of the committee, said he intends proposing a motion deploring the move and demanding his community council is consulted over future local decision-making arrangements.
As reported last week, the area committees of Eildon, Tweeddale and Berwickshire have been abolished, while those covering Teviot and Liddesdale (Hawick) and Cheviot (Kelso and Jedburgh) have been reprieved.
The Eildon committee comprised 10 SBC councillors, including the Selkirkshire trio of Kenneth Gunn, Vicky Davidson and Carolyn Riddell-Carre, along with community council representatives including Mr Edgar.
The power to determine local planning applications was removed from area committees last year. But the decision to scrap three of them, informed by a perceived lack of public support and the need for SBC to cut costs, means non-elected council officers will now be responsible for: the allocation of community grants and local small projects, street naming and numbering, determination of local holidays, town twinning arrangements, traffic management schemes and local bylaws.
"This means there will be no local accountability in three areas of Borders with decisions made without public scrutiny of many issues which affect the lives of communities like Selkirk," said Mr Edgar.
"SBC has a responsibility to treat everyone fairly under new equality legislation, yet here we have a two-class society.
"It also begs the question whether if officers are now making decisions, do we really need 34 salaried councillors on SBC?"
Monday's community council meeting in the committee room of the Victoria Halls starts at 7pm with an open forum, at which the public are invited to raise issues of local concern, scheduled for 7.30pm.
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Weather for Selkirk
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: West
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