Agenda item

Information to follow.

15.1     Gillian Jardine, Locality Development Officer, advised there were four applications to be considered this evening amounting to £43,955.00, which meant the Teviot and Liddesdale Community Fund was oversubscribed by £1,413.00.  Ms Jardine summarised each application, detailed information on each application had been provided in the supplementary agenda pack circulated prior to the meeting.

15.2     Hawick Recreation Association – Heating System

The application for consideration from Hawick Recreation Association was for £6,637.00 to replace the existing heating system at the Auld Baths.  The hall was used by a variety of groups who had commented that the hall was cold and there was a concern that bookings might stop which could impact on HRA’s income. £7,374.00 had been ring fenced from Hawick Common Good so if they were successful this evening they would be able to complete the project.

15.3     Future Hawick – Salaries for Welcome Hosts

This application from Future Hawick was for the Hawick Welcome Initiative requesting £14,950.00 to pay wages of four Welcome Hosts and an administrator this summer.  Two of the hosts would be young people interested in a career in tourism. Feedback from visitors for the Welcome Hosts was positive and local businesses were also supportive with many providing financial donations.  Due to the pandemic, funding activities have been limited this year and reserves were not sufficient to cover full project costs.

15.4     Newcastleton & District Community Council – Railway Film Project.

This application was from all eight community councils seeking £4,878.00 to commission   Alchemy Arts to produce a film on the communities’ thoughts on extending the Borders Railway from Tweedbank to Carlisle and would focus on the social gains of extending the railway.  The film would be accessible and allow communities to express what the railway would mean to them.  Participation would be open to everyone and would include archive footage of the railway from the past.  The film would be shared through social media platforms and the digital discussion taking place in the spring. 

  15.5     Newcastleton & District Community Council - CCTV

The final application for consideration was from Newcastleton and District Community Council for £17,490.00 to assist with costs of installing a CCTV system.  The CCTV would provide a series of linked cameras for all entrances to the village and locations prone to antisocial behaviour.  Two cameras would also be placed at the River Liddle and could be monitored by the emergency planning team and resilience team and would give a 20 minute warning of flooding to the village.  This could be used to inform a future flood scheme. Ms Jardine explained that the application still required planning permission and therefore did not currently meet the criteria of the Fund.  However, the Area Partnership could award on the proviso that planning permission was granted, but the earliest a decision would be reached by planning would be early April.

15.6     All four applications were discussed and fully supported by the Area Partnership.  The Chair suggested that because of the shortfall, and that planning permission was still required, the CCTV application should have the slight shortfall with the proviso that this would be paid from the 2021/22 Fund.  Ms Smith advised that as the application did not meet the Community Fund criteria, there would need to be a caveat in the award letter in the event that planning permission was not granted.  In response to a question Mrs Elborn clarified that the £17,400 already secured by Newcastleton & District Community Council would be used to commence the first element of the project ahead of planning permissions being secured.  Ms Smith explained further that the community funding would not be awarded until planning permission was granted and this condition would be included with the other terms and conditions in the award letter for Newcastleton and District Community Council. 

15.7     Following consideration of all four applications, the Area Partnership unanimously approved community funding as follows:-

• £6,637.00 to Hawick Recreation Association;

• £14,950.00 to Future Hawick – Welcome Host Initiative;
•  £4,878.00 to Newcastleton and District Community Council – Railway Film Project; and
• £16,077.00 to Newcastleton and District Community Council – CCTV.  (The remaining £1,413.00 to be paid from the 2021/22 Community Grant Fund).  The grant for the CCTV not to be issued until planning permission was granted and this would be included with the other terms and conditions of the award letter).