‘Enough is enough’

Community group slam abuse received

‘VEXATIOUS’ abuse towards members of Moffat and District Community Council (MDCC) will not be tolerated, say members.

A new complaint was brought before the community council at their meeting on Tuesday night.

It was made by a member of the public and made several allegations against individuals within the community, as well as MDCC chair Liam O’Neill and group secretary Mick Barker, calling for their removal from the community council.

Addressing the complaint, Mr Barker said: “It goes without saying that I don’t recognised this characterisation of the community council or myself in any way.

“I was sent a document in 2024, it was a surprising document in many ways and I was very taken aback when I received it. It contained a number of unpleasant, divisive accusations against members of the community. It completely misinterpreted the role of the community council and, as far I was concerned, it was potentially libellous.”

A similar complaint was made in 2024, but was dismissed following a two stage investigation, which included an independent panel made of other community councils.

But this latest grievance has sparked fury within MDCC’s ranks, with treasurer David Booth stating: “The whole purpose of this seems to be dissolving the community council, but sometimes I wonder why do I sit here and allow myself to be abused? I don’t need to be.

“Mick has spent hundreds of hours on this community council as an unpaid volunteer.

“We are here as an independent body to serve in the best interests of the community, and being disbanded would not be in the best interest of the community, and there is only one person who wants to do this.

“This is a keyboard warrior who seems to take great delight in doing this stuff. We have bent over backwards to accommodate them but there comes a point in time where we say enough is enough and we have no more dealings with this person.”

Fellow member Leys Geddes added: “The allegations that certain people in the community are criminals have been going on for nearly ten years and it’s the same underlying issues that brings up all this stuff, and so many of us have received terrible personal abuse on social media.

“When I was chair here and of Visit Moffat I got piles of abuse, and it’s just ridiculous, and it keeps getting heavier and now it’s targeting individuals on the community council.”

Following the rules set out in the scheme for the establishment of community councils, MDCC moved to formally reject the complaint and designate the individual as a ‘vexatious complainant’.