‘Flawed’ community cash meeting blasted
Anger over‘unfair’way projects were allocated money
Anger has erupted over a “mob-handed” Stirling Council ‘participatory budgeting’ event which saw children as young as 10 casting their vote on the allocation of public cash.
Members of some Stirling district community councils said proposals for their area stood little chance of getting money due to the “inept and unfair” way the ‘Your Place, Your Priorities’ meeting at Callander Primary School had been organised.
Three Carron Valley Community Council members attended the meeting on Saturday March 24 to put forward their case for funding for grit bins (£1000), new signs at the historic Kirk O’ Muir graveyard (£5000) and benches for the Carron Valley area (£7150). But the group’s chairman this week blasted the council’s handling of the meeting.
David Petch said: “We were told about the meeting two weeks beforehand and had very little time to prepare for it. And we were not given a clear indication on voting procedure. We didn’t find out how things would be run until that morning.
“We had understood that representatives from community councils were to attend and would have their say on the proposals When we got there we found this was not the case. Anyone over the age of 10 could vote. It was mob rule. The more people you had at the meeting the more likely your project would get funding.
“Two projects from outside Stirlingshire received money and the other six which received money were from Aberfoyle, Callander and Killin. The western or southern areas of Stirling district did not receive a penny.
“Callander Primary School, where the meeting was held, had a playground revamp project. This project, given the location, had no problem getting backers - it got 135 votes.
“They ran out of money at project number eight. Those who came mob-handed got the money.
“Carron Valley would have been better off hiring buses and packing them with supporters. That is how ridiculous the situation was.
“And I’m sorry, but I do not think giving 10-year-old children a vote in something like this is a good idea. They are not of legal voting age. They may not understand the complexity of the issues involved and can be influenced by adults. If you are going to vote on how the council spends its money you should be a Council Tax payer. Children aged ten do not pay Council Tax.
“Callander was very successful in getting money for projects like the McLaren Community Leisure Centre climbing wall (£10,000) and Callander Primary Parent Council’s healthy play (£10,000) for its playground. That’s because people from Callander found it easiest to get there. The location of the meeting should have been held on neutral ground.
“People may think my views to be sour grapes as Carron Valley lost out. I have no problem with many of the projects which received cash like Killin Mountain Rescue.
“But the fundamental thing is the whole process was not properly done. It was all about the survival of the biggest and the strongest.
“My community council covers the largest geographical area within the Stirling area although the population is the smallest. There should be equity in the voting procedure to take account of that.”
Chairman of Strathblane Community Council Margaret Vass was also unhappy after attending the event. She said: “It is fantastic there is a new fund is available for communities but we have to have robust and fair processes for giving the money out.
“The process clearly disadvantages smaller communities who may have had problems getting together support for their bid. And the notice period for this event was too short and complicated by the fact that a lot of community groups were dealing with the effects of the bad weather and didn’t have time to fill in the application forms.”
Trossachs and Teith councillor Martin Earl described the process as “fundamentally flawed.” He commented: “I’m happy that groups in my ward secured funding. However, the process does not live up to the billing of participatory budgeting when you consider how it was organised. Many worthwhile projects in Trossachs and Teith were unsuccessful as well. It cannot be repeated in the same way.”
Forth and Endrick councillor Alistair Berrill also believed the process to be flawed. He added: “There were about 13 projects from my ward involved. It’s great that people are prepared to give up their Saturday to go along to an event like this. However, there were concerns about the methodology beforehand.”
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to hear the feedback from residents in relation to these events.
“This was the first time we used this innovative approach and much as the overall feedback has been encouraging we will take all feedback on board to ensure we improve future events.”
I do not think giving 10-year-old children a vote in something like this is a good idea