The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Santa’s helpers quit: Christmas cancelled
Community: Organisers quit, putting festive celebrations in doubt
CHRISTMAS has been cancelled in an Aberdeenshire town because the group which organises its festive fun events has folded.
Members of Ellon Community Council resigned en masse – effectively pulling the plug on the annual lights display, fireworks show, yuletide parade and visit from Santa.
The Christmas lights
“It made it impossible for it to go ahead”
switch-on event has been running for more than a decade and attracts thousands of people every year.
It had been due to be held on November 19.
And last night the town’s Aberdeenshire councillors and other local people were trying to put together a res-
cue package. The community council members quit after claiming they had been told by the local authority the body had “insufficient numbers” to continue operating.
The minimum number of community council members required in Aberdeenshire is 10, but the Ellon group’s membership fell to just eight on September 30.
Former chairman, Peter Mackie, claimed the local authority had left them in a position where members were unable to “make decisions” or use funds.
He said this meant the group could not continue to organise the Christmas event.
However, local councillors hit back at the claim and said the talks between thecommunity counciland the council were at an early stage when its members decided to stand down.
They said any decision to shut down a community council would have to be discussed by the local authority’s Formartine area committee before being debated by a full meeting of Aberdeenshire Council.
MrMackie added the decision to resign and cancel the event was taken with “great thought and sadness”.
He said: “We tried to find a way around this. If we can’t spend money to make decisions we can’t go on. We were unable to spend the money. It made it impossible for it to go ahead.
“We don’t want to walk away from that but don’t want to sit on our hands and not be able to do the Christmas lights.”
Chairman of the Formartine area committee and Ellon and District councillor Rob Merson has now joined forces with other local elected members to back “alternative arrangements” whichwill allow the Christmas event to continue this year.
He claimed many of the community council’s claims “would appear to have little basis in fact”.
SNPmemberMrMerson said: “The matter is cur- rently the subject of an inquiry by the Formartine area manager, who has been assisting the community council with a number of i ssues over recent months – and has my full support.
“I would very much hope that alternative arrangementscanbeput in place to ensure the continuity of the Ellon Christmas lights display and the Christmas parade this year.”
Fellow Ellon councillor, Conservative Gillian Owen, said: “I am saddened and distressed that the ex-Ellon CommunityCouncilpeople feel they have to resign.
“Theyhave not been shut down by Aberdeenshire Council. Aberdeenshire Council cannot shut a community council down within 24 hours. There is a process that has to be foll owed to s hut t hem down.”
She vowed to do “anything” to get the Christmas event “up and running”.
Council co-leader and SNPcouncillor for the area, Richard Thomson, said: “It’s very disappointing that the remaining community council members have decided to resign en masse, but it should be made clear that the decision to do so was theirs alone.
“There was no reason why, even with their reduced numbers, the community council could not have gone ahead with this event which has always been a huge credit to all involved.
“Right now, the shortterm priority must be to ensure that the Ellon Christmas events can go ahead as far as is now possible.”
Lib Dem councillor for Ellon and District, Isobel Davidson, said: “It is really disappointing they have all resigned from the community council, they had been struggling to recruit members for quite a while now.
“TheChristmas lights is a really popular family event and it really brings folk into the town. It would be very disappointing if it didn’t go ahead.”
“There was no reason why it could not have gone ahead”
We’re all wontto throwupour hands in anger, frustration, horror even, when events and facilities in our communities are threatened or face imminent closure or cancellation.
But how many of us are prepared to get involved and do our bit to ensure they survive? Not enough, clearly.
The prospect of Ellon facing the withdrawal of its Christmas festivities andlights– aswell as a plethora of other events – due to the lack of interest in the community council in the Aberdeenshire commuter town has set hares running.
It’s true that the prospect of being involved in local politics is enough to send a shiver down the spine of many right-minded folk, but these type of councils are supposed to be about s upporting groups and focusing on issues at a very local level.
Some do descend into nonsensical political machinations among those who believe they are prowling the corridors of power in Westminster or Holyrood, but the vast majority of people involved simply want to give something back.
It’s fascinating to see the outcry over the crisis that has seen Ellon Community Council implode. Perhaps now enough people will come forward to rejuvenate it and get the events back on track. And let’s hope the attention focuses people’s minds elsewhere and encourages them to take part.
If we don’t then who else have we to blame when all the local events start to fold? It’s not always everyone else’s fault.
“The prospect of local politics is enough to send a shiver down the spine of many folk”