COMMUNITY councillors in Jedburgh are calling for a “level playing field” when it comes to funding support for the local Town Hall.

During last week’s meeting they deemed an offer made to a local steering group which would see revenue support fall from £30,000 to nil after six years is unfair. The steering group had been in negotiations with Scottish Borders Council for some time regarding taking over the operation of the hall from the local authority.

The Community Council believe that, whilst local control is a good thing, it should not be at the expense of ongoing local authority support.

Other halls, libraries and museums across the region could be transferred to a Borders-wide trust.

Community Council chairman Richard Gordon told the Border Telegraph: “It is inconceivable that any organisation could operate local halls without a degree of ongoing revenue support from SBC.

“We believe that the deal offered to Jedburgh at the moment is fundamentally unfair and unsustainable.

“It could see council taxpayers in Jedburgh contributing towards the operating costs of Hawick Town Hall, the Volunteer Hall in Galashiels and others across the region in perpetuity whilst not seeing a penny of council cash for their own facility after just a few years.” The grassroots body are also concerned that major investments have been made in a number of other halls across the region by the local authority whilst Jedburgh has seen little expenditure over recent years and does not, at the moment, have a proper operational kitchen.

The Community Council has contacted Scottish Borders Council a number of times asking for a better financial package for the Jedburgh hall.

They also want to see up-to-date hall usage and revenue figures as the most recent made available date back almost five years.