Agenda and minutes

Consider report by Principal Solicitor. (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Principal Solicitor which advised on the outcome of the consultation under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, and sought approval of the final Common Good Register for Melrose.  Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 the Council was required to establish and maintain a register of property which was held by the authority as part of the Common Good (a “Common Good Register”).  Before establishing a Common Good Register, the Act required the Council to publish a list of property that it proposed to include in the Register and consult the public on the list.  The Melrose Common Good Sub-Committee approved the draft asset register in December 2021 and agreed to the commencement of the public consultation.  The consultation ran from December 2021 to 31 March 2022.  The Sub-Committee was required to consider the responses received to the consultation and approve the final register to be recommended to Council for publication.  The Principal Solicitor, Mrs Hannah Macleod, presented the report, and highlighted that 6 of the 65 substantive responses had been related to Melrose.  The Chairman advised of a family related declaration of interest related to the triangle, where a family bereavement had brought an ownership issue into awareness.  Mrs Macleod advised that “the Triangle” was held as part of the Ormiston trust, and that the plan would be forwarded on to Estates. 

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)        to note the consultation responses and officers’ comments thereon, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

(b)       to approve the contents of the final list of heritable and moveable property assets held by the Council within the former Burgh of Melrose, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report; and

*        (c)        to recommend to Council the said final asset list for publication as a completed Common Good Register for Melrose.

MEMBER

Those in attendance expressed their thanks and well wishes to the Principal Solicitor, who was leaving the Council to pursue employment with the Faculty of Actuaries.