Before 1975, all 15 members of Selkirk Town Council had a say in how the Royal Burgh’s heritable assets were handled.

In the committee room of the Victoria Halls on Monday, two of the three Selkirkshire representatives on Scottish Borders Council, who constitute the Selkirk Common Good Working Group (SCGWG), held sway. In a break with tradition, chairperson Councillor Carolyn Riddell-Carre, who lives near St Boswells, had arranged the meeting at short notice and invited members of the public to participate in a question-and-answer session.

“The historic meeting went really well with 19 members of the public attending,” said Mrs Riddell-Carre.

“There were questions about the assets held by the common good and our officers were able to explain the net cost of running the Town Hall [Sir Walter Scott’s courtroom] is likely to be nearly £19,000 in the coming year, most of which is currently borne by SBC. Yet the common good only contributes £1,200, thus illustrating the point that not every capital is an item – some are liabilities.”

But Kirstin Scott, the solicitor acting for the community council in a bid to get an up-to-date register of all assets from SBC, told us: “This is a typical example of the kind of accounting which is depriving the common good of revenue.”

“When common good assets are rented out to, or used by third parties, a commercial or market rent appears to be paid, but when they are rented out or used by SBC, such as the Town Hall which is used by the museum service, no rent is paid.

“This is a discrepancy which I do not understand, though it explains why the Town Hall is operating at a net loss. It is important to note that SBC is acting as legal and financial adviser to the SCGWG, and is also a tenant of a common good property.

“This raises a conflict of interest. It is like asking a tenant of a property you own to advise you on the rent they should pay. It is not surprising to find out that their advice in their own case is to pay nothing.”

The meeting heard that nearly £22,000 had been spent from the fund upgrading Smedheugh Farm before it was recently re-let, at four times the previous rent. This contrasted with the £1,035 spent on Linglie Farm and the £298 on South Common.

With the fund having stumped up £112,000 to pay compensation to the family of the late Smedheugh tenant, the common good’s revenue reserve will stand at £71,000 on March 31, with capital reserves of £49,000.

At the meeting, Mrs Riddell-Carre said she had proposed, and SBC had agreed, for the policy on how the latter reserves should be invested to be re-examined by chief financial officer Sandy Brown.

“If we leave £49,000 sitting on deposit, then in 100 years’ time we’ll be lucky if it buys a loaf of bread.”

Mrs Riddell-Carre also recorded her thanks to the Selkirk and District Angling Association for its work in assigning the Selkirk town fishings on the Ettrick from the Crown to the common good.