Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Serious concerns in Inverness about Common Good Fund cash being used for Housing Expo purposes

Gurnites need to read this earlier article and this newer piece (plus the comments they are receiving) on the Inverness Courier site to keep up to date with goings-on connected with the Housing Expo. There seems to be real anger directed at the use of common good cash to fund free entry for children to the Expo.
Here in Nairn we should be concerned because Highland Council also controls the Nairn Common Good fund. As we've said in the Gurn before, it is high time to bring the Nairn Common Good back until local control or at least allow more folk from Nairn into the decision making process. There was talk of this at one of the ward forum meetings but it seems to have gone quite on this front recently
Students of the local Common Good Fund may wish to read this document that went before the Resources Committee at Glenurquhart Road earlier today (sorry we don't know if it was approved).
The Expo cash issue is also attracting attention further afield in the Highlands as this Caithness based blog displays and earlier this week the APT blog also featured the Expo situation

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Would someone be able to tell me, briefly, where the CGF hails from?

Graisg said...

'Common Good is the name given to the inherited property of the former burghs of Scotland and consists of a range of assets both moveable (furniture, paintings, regalia etc.) and heritable (land and buildings).

With respect to the 196 burghs defined in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (and whose Town Councils were wound up in May 1975), these assets are held by Local Authorities (in other words they have legal title) on behalf of the inhabitants of the former burghs. Title transferred under the terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 because no provision was made for any community body to act as a successor to the Town Councils.

Other classes of Common Good exist. These include land forming part of burghs not included in the 1947 Act and land owned by former Parish Councils and County Councils where it was purchased or gifted for the benefit of a defined group of people (in a village or town). Such other classes, however, are far less clearly defined in either statute of case law and further research is needed to determine their fate. '

More on this site Alec.

Anonymous said...

Cheers for that. I've created a Facebook group, and will give Admin access to any activist in Inverness.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123992574304156

Band-wagon, band-wagon, gotta jump on!

Jane Harkiss said...

Not the dreaded ArseBook again! Give me strength! If I want to be 'poked', then it will be when I wish to be. Facebook my arse. Sorry, bit of a pet hate, as it were.