Perthshire North MSP, Mr John Swinney, and Councillor Mike Williamson (SNP) have highlighted the failure of Perth and Kinross Council to list appropriately all Common Good property belonging to the Pitlochry Common Good Fund.
The register of Common Good property is required by law to be compiled by the council.
Commenting, Mr Swinney said:
“It is of crucial importance that the Pitlochry Common Good Fund is satisfactorily audited.
“The Common Good Fund exists for the betterment of all Pitlochry, and it is therefore unacceptable that basic steps are not being taken to protect and maximise its potential benefits for the town.
“Having now highlighted this issue, it is incumbent upon the council administration to take steps to swiftly rectify this serious oversight.”
Councillor Williamson added:
“I am astonished that the Tories running Perth and Kinross Council have allowed this omission from our statutory responsibilities to go unchecked and I call upon the Leader of the council to take urgent action straight away.
“I am also concerned at any suggestion that lack of staff or underfunding by the Conservative administration has caused this failure to provide a complete audit of the Pitlochry Common Good assets by last year’s deadline.
“Residents of Pitlochry will be outraged that their Common Good Fund committee does not have any idea which properties within the town should be included on their asset register.
“Pitlochry Common Good assets essentially belong to the town, so this failure to basically stock check property presents a direct risk to the fund which may have resulted in a lower amount of funding being available to support good causes within Pitlochry.
“This is a totally unacceptable failure within the council and I will maintain pressure on the council’s Tory leadership until they get a grip on this issue.”
