COMMUNITY councillors in Selkirk don’t feel sexy.

But they are hoping to take their meetings on the road in a bid to turn the tide.

A recent drop in numbers has led to several attempts to bulk up the body with recruitment drives and appeals. But chair Graham Easton admits attracting others to the table is proving difficult. He said: “Community councils don’t seem to be sexy at the moment.

“We need more people but everyone is too busy with everything else that’s going on - the Community Council certainly isn’t up there in the top ten of groups.

“There are a lot of very active and successful groups in the town and it may be that the Provost or members of the Common Riding Trust have their part to play in bringing back a stronger town council.” The most recent meeting of Selkirk Community Council only attracted five members, two local authority councillors and two members of the public.

But Mr Easton hopes that by taking meetings away from the Victoria Hall the public benches will be a little busier.

He added: “I hope we can meet in Bannerfield in either September or October. We need to get out and about more.” Selkirk Community Council meets every month to discuss and decide on everything from planning applications, crime, infrastructure improvements and regeneration.

They also help with the management of Selkirk Hill and litter picks, organise evening study groups and have a say in the Common Good.

Member Ian King said: “The Community Council isn’t functioning as well as it should be or used to be. We don’t have the numbers to do what we would like.” Local authority members, Vicky Davidson and Michelle Ballantyne, both backed the idea to invite other organisations in the town to be represented on the town’s council.

Councillor Ballantyne said: “There are a lot of active groups in Selkirk and it wouldn’t do any harm for them to represented at the Community Council. If all of the different groups were represented the Community Council wouldn’t feel so disconnected.

“Selkirk is no worse than other Community Councils, but with a bit of work you can get other groups involved.” Selkirk Community Council’s next meeting is in the Victoria Hall on Monday, July 14.