A PLAY park project in Lochmaben is back up and swinging after a “very stressful” week following a council funding blunder.
Burgh community councillors were left fuming last week when the local authority decided at “very short notice” to take back £20,000 of funding it had previously allocated for the Victory Park project.
However, Lochmaben Community Council – plus members of the public – fought back, saying they believed the actions of the council to be “unfair, undemocratic and completely against the declared policies of Dumfries and Galloway Council in respect of community support and involvement”.
Sensationally, the red-faced council made another U-turn on Monday and confirmed it will in fact back the project, blaming their previous actions as a “misunderstanding”.
The good news was confirmed by community councillors Colin Davidson and Carol Rogerson, with the latter stating the children of Lochmaben will be getting the park “they deserve”.
Mrs Rogerson said: “This afternoon, after some strong emails, we had good news that the council have had second thoughts regarding our funding.
“We’re thrilled and dancing in the streets, happy that we are getting our £20k. That’s confirmed and the project will now be going ahead.
“It was quite stressful last week for whatever reason that they pulled our funding but it has been resolved and the children in Lochmaben will be getting the park they deserve.
“It’s much different from the parks we already have. We’re more than happy. It was a very stressful misunderstanding.”
Mr Davidson told members of the public at Monday’s community council meeting that he had received an apology from officials regarding the matter. He also praised the local community and councillors for helping overturn the local authority’s decision.
He said: “We sent a very strong email to our ward officer who had given us the news.
“We made it clear that we didn’t think it was any of the officers because they had been very supportive over the last two years about the project.
“In this case, whoever was behind the decision for whatever reason we forget about because we have won that money back. The money had been allocated and then taken away in very short notice.
“We stirred it up a bit and we’ve got the money back. With the support from elected members, community council and members of the public, common sense prevailed.”
Mr Davidson also read out an email from council officer Nicola Simpson which contained her apologising for the “misunderstanding”.
It said: “Firstly, I’d like to apologise for any upset caused by the previous correspondence regarding the future development of Victory Park.
“We work with many groups across the region who are keen to develop their play areas within their communities.
“We are very grateful for all the hard work and time volunteers give to raise funds to develop their visions and ambitions to ensure the best facilities are available for their communities.
“As mentioned in relation to the Scottish Government report being considered by the communities committee, members are being asked to agree to £206k being used to replace equipment over the next three years as determined by external inspections. The intention is to allocate £20k for Victory Park. I apologise for the misunderstanding.”
The community council have committed £7500 from their reserves towards the project and are looking at additional funding options too.
The council were contacted for comment.
