Answers sought on Moffat assets

‘FUNDAMENTAL issues’ about management and maintenance of Moffat’s common good assets were raised at Tuesday night’s community council meeting.

Members of Moffat and District Community Council (MDCC) recently met with a representative of the council’s community assets team to discuss issues relating to Tank Wood, Hope Johnstone Park, Station Park and Annanside.

Giving more detail, MDCC secretary Mick Barker explained: “For two to three hours we went through a fairly long list of issues affecting Moffat’s common good assets.

“And it raised for us a very fundamental issue: when the government reorganisation took place the looking after of those things moved from Moffat Town Council to Dumfries and Galloway Council. And we have a problem as far as the council have not allocated money for maintaining those assets.”

The state of Tank Wood was particularly scrutinised as the woodland has been out of bounds since November.

Mr Barker said: “Tank Wood has been theoretically closed to the public but we still haven’t had a report since November on what’s wrong, which trees are going to be addressed, and even when the report does arrive there is no money in the common good budget to address the issue of maintaining the trees.

“We need to chase up with our councillors and the assets team about how we get some money into the common good fund and then apply it to a multitude of things, for example the diabolic state of the toilets in Station Park. So you will be hearing more from us about the common good and the council because we can’t forever go in circles.”

MDCC chairperson Liam O’Neill added: “All this confusion started with the changes to local government not being sorted out at the time.

“It has left it in a state and the authority don’t really want anything to do with them but it’s about time that they look after them properly.”