Community tries to stop council sell-off
50 turn up at meeting to discuss loos site at Burnside
Community leaders in Pitlochry are probing a proposed deal to sell off council land in the town.
The site at Burnside features a public toilet, disabled parking bays and a path to the railway station. Perth and Kinross Council was proposing to sell the package to a property company.
But Pitlochry and Moulin Community Council has lodged a bid under the Community Empowerment Act to transfer it to town ownership.
A town meeting was called on Wednesday night last week to see if there was public appetite to put in process new powers given by royal assent to local areas back in the spring.
Despite bad weather, about 50 Pitlochry residents came to discuss the matter.
Community council chair Andrew Holmes said that it was “only by chance” town representatives had discovered that the council’s estates and commercial investment team was said to be negotiating an asset sell-off.
“I am concerned that Perth and Kinross Council is contemplating selling off public assets without the agreement of the community. There is a mentality that public land is council land. It’s not,” declared Mr Holmes.
Mr Holmes told those attending the meeting: “The community council has put in its interest under the Community Empowerment Act (CEA) for a transfer. If successful, this is thought to be the first occasion where the new CEA powers have been used in Perth and Kinross and certainly the first time in Pitlochry.
“We welcome the opportunity that the CEA has brought to make sure various bits of neglected land are not lost to the town.
“It has come to public notice now that other pieces of land in Pitlochry could be sold off by the council, without officers informing us. They have been operating under historic delegated powers. This has to change. If we don’t know, we can’t act.”
The meeting led to positive suggestions, with volunteers agreeing to look into funding to re-instate the Burnside toilets and operate them.
The community council agreed to assess the condition of the 70s era construction and take things from there.
“Since the toilet at Burnside closed a decade ago, the usage of the other public toilet in town has doubled and is now by far the busiest in Perth and Kinross with queues in the summer months,” said Mr Holmes.
“A Freedom of Information Act inquiry at the time when PKC was threatening to shut the toilets in the centre of town revealed 130,000 people a year go through the doors.”
The community chair has been locked in email exchange with the estates surveyor with PKC.
Mr Holmes showed the PA a reply from PKC, written on August 3, where the surveyor defended the move to sell off the corner of town.
It read: “Clearly the council is entitled to enter into discussions with third parties concerning its property assets at any time The Burnside area of Pitlochry
and is also entitled to dispose of assets, provided due process is followed, including compliance with Disposal of Land by Local Authorities regulations.”
A later communication on August 10 to Mr Holmes from the surveyor read: “Elected members are not consulted on every property transaction the council carries out.
“The relevant council departments have delegated powers to undertake property transactions within a procedural framework, but different
arrangements clearly come into operation in the event of the council being served notice under Community Empowerment legislation.
“The council is of course willing to answer elected members’ queries concerning individual properties as and when these are raised.”
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said: “Discussions have taken place with a third party interested in the possible sale of the toilets, however all discussions have been suspended while we consider the notice of interest from the community.
“The Burnside toilets in Pitlochry were declared surplus to council requirements a number of years ago.
“We have continued to maintain the grass since the property remains under council ownership, but the site is not regarded as being public open space with a high amenity value, rather it is ground forming part of a former public toilet site.
It has come to public notice now that other pieces of land in Pitlochry could be sold off