Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Communities set to share new £50,000 festive fund
PROPOSALS which aim to revamp Christmas funding to ensure “fairness” in communities in Dundee have split opinion – with some claiming the city centre is being prioritised.
A new £50,000 fund, which the city council says would allow for more flexibility on how the money is spent in different areas, will be discussed by councillors on Monday.
The plan was first touted by council leader John Alexander last month and would mean an end to council-funded trees and decorations in communities outside the city centre.
Mr Alexander said this will help “empower” communities with direct funding to spend how they see fit.
It is also hoped the review would help improve the city centre offerings, with £110,000 committed to city centre lights and decorations.
A further £41,000 will be invested to create a programme of activities from the light switchon to the end of the holidays.
However, after the plan was formally announced, opposition councillors branded the administration “Scrooges” and claimed it was a “cash-grab”.
West End councillor Fraser Macpherson said: “I am all in favour of improving the city centre Christmas offering but this report is basically scrapping the existing Christmas trees and lights in local communities to pay for it.
“Although it proposes a ‘festive fund’, most of the money is actually simply pinched from the Hogmanay fund and most of the £73,000 given to support Christmas across the city is being axed.
“This has been a very challenging year for businesses but that includes our district shopping centres as well as the city centre.”
Mr Macpherson’s position is shared by Councillor Craig Duncan, who claimed the city centre was being priorised over the West End and his ward, Broughty Ferry.
But the council leader dismissed the claims and said the current situation was not fair to every community.
Mr Alexander said: “There is no application process for the current funding. The £73,000 is not offered to communities on an equal basis – that is inherently unfair and it doesn’t do anything other than pay for a tree and lights. We can be more ambitious than that.
“I want all of Dundee to have the same chance to host Christmas events and I don’t want to restrict them to a tree.
“If they want to host events and activities then we should support that.
“A cynic might suggest that the position of councillors Macpherson and Duncan is more to do with votes in the West End and Broughty Ferry than fairness or equity.”
Members of the council’s recovery sub-committee will be asked to give the move the green light at a meeting on Monday.