JEDBURGH'S common good fund has stepped in after Scottish Borders Council cut funding for the town’s hanging baskets and floral beds. 

The local authority has announced that from next year it will no longer provide baskets for the ramparts, fountain, and town hall areas, leading to a local horticultural group to pick up the mantle. 

The United Roxburghshire and Jedburgh Horticultural Society, founded in 1815, currently provides hanging baskets throughout the town, as well as numerous flower tubs, and has applied to the common good fund for a grant that will enable it to expand its operations. 

Ann Laidlaw, treasurer of the society, wrote to the common good fund committee outlining the application.

She said: “Since 2015, our bicentenary year, the society has organised and maintained over 80 hanging baskets and numerous flower tubs in the town centre. This was, and still is, a great success.

“Our aim is to continue with this and probably provide a great many more baskets, as we now understand that Scottish Borders Council cutbacks mean that they will not be in a position to supply the ones on the ramparts, fountain, and around the town hall next year.

“We have sufficient funding in place to keep up the regular watering regime for a few more months. The money would be used for the rest of the year and hopefully to go some of the way towards buying next year’s plants.

“Costs will be well up on last year as our supplier has charged us VAT and the tubs and baskets are requiring much more frequent watering.”

On Wednesday, councillors sitting on the Jedburgh common good fund committee met to deliberate on the proposal.

Jedburgh and district councillor Sandy Scott said: “I must say they’ve done a very good job in Jedburgh this year, I think that  he hanging baskets are rather good. They’ve obviously done quite a bit.”

Fellow Jedburgh councillors Jim Brown and Scott Hamilton concurred, and a grant of £3,000 was awarded to the society. 

This grant will be match funded by local businesses, the Jedburgh Rotary Club, the Jed Eye and various community groups.