Community councils in Scotland are unique. They are statutory bodies, with rights and powers granted under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, The Race Relations Act 2000, The Local Government Act 2003 and laws & regulations of the European Parliament. They are not a tier of local government, nor are they simple voluntary or community bodies.

The Legislation Governing Community Councils

The current legislative framework governing community councils is largely contained in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, supplemented by the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. This Act introduced the District and Regional Council format, and abolished the existing system of town and county councils. The Royal Commission on Local Government, chaired by Lord Wheatley, had recommended the concept of community councils in 1969. Wheatley recommended the establishment of Community Councils in order to avoid the risk of remoteness of local authorities on the introduction of the new two-tier system of Local Government. It was intended that community councils should bridge the gap between local authorities (which were being reduced in number at that time from over 400 to 65) and local communities.

The 1973 Act sets out the purpose of a community council as being primarily that of a local representative body, whilst allowing community councils scope to become involved in other activities at their discretion. The legislation further requires that all local authorities should have in place a community council scheme for its area, and sets out some of the provisions that must be contained in the schemes. Provision is also made as to the procedure to be followed if a local authority wishes to amend or replace its existing community council scheme. The 1994 Act essentially provided for the continuation of the community council schemes following the replacement of District and Regional authorities with single-tier local authorities in 1996.

There is a view that the existing legislation does not adequately define the purpose and role of community councils. The 1973 Act states that " In addition to any other purpose which a community council may pursue, the general purpose of a community council shall be to ascertain, co-ordinate and express to the local authorities for its area, and to public authorities, the views of the community which it represents, in relation to matters for which those authorities are responsible, and to take such action in the interests of that community as appears to it to be expedient and practicable." The words "in addition to any other purpose which a community council may pursue" may be the source of the difficulty, but it is simply intended to enable the members of a community council to become involved in other local projects within the 'umbrella' of the community council without having to set up a separate body in order to do so.

What are Community Councils?

Community councils are the most local tier of statutory representation in Scotland. Their primary purpose is to ascertain and express the views of the community to the local authority and other public bodies. Many community councils also involve themselves in a wide range of other activities including fundraising, organising community events, undertaking environmental and educational projects and much more.

There are currently around 1200 community councils in Scotland, all composed of elected volunteers from the community.

National Association of Community Councils

Many community councils are members of the Association of Scottish Community Councils (ASCC). The objectives of this organisation are to promote community councils, provide advice and to represent their interests at a national level. The ASCC is funded by the Scottish Executive and is composed of elected representatives from community councils. Further information and contact details can be found on the ASCC website.

Black Mount Community Council

By 1975, Lanark District Council had determined that there should be 29 communities within their area. Our local community, with a population of 400, covering the villages of Dolphinton, Elsrickle, Walston and Dunsyre, was one of the smaller ones.

Newspaper articles, news items etc. had alerted local residents to the legislation, and a self appointed steering committee had its first meeting in 1976, when the name Black Mount was agreed because the four villages are around the base of this hill. At the same meeting, it was decided that 4 members would be elected and 5 nominated from local organisations. On Thursday 24th March 1977, the first meeting of the duly elected Black Mount Community Council was held with its purpose:

(i) to encourage a sense of community, and to ascertain the views and needs of the community
(ii) to organise any necessary action such as self-help within the community
(iii) to represent and make known the interests of the community to public authorities and other outside bodies, and individuals

The newly elected Black Mount Community Council stated that it was prepared to work hard to co-ordinate all community effort, but in return expected everyone in the Black Mount community area to play their part.

All this agreed at the first meeting holds true today. The Community Council maintains good relations with Councils and statutory authorities, and endeavours to maintain a community spirit by having open meetings, publishing and delivering The Black Mount Bugle, and having social activities arranged by the Social Group.

Black Mount 'Reorganisation'

In 1997, proposals were formulated by South Lanarkshire Council to reform community councils in South Lanarkshire. Under these proposals, Black Mount Community Council would have ceased to exist, since it would have been almalgamated with Biggar and Symington. Our area would have been effectively administered from Biggar, with the number of local representatives significantly reduced.

A full report on these proposals appears further down this page.

There was a massive outcry from community councils and the general public, with the proposals being widely condemned. During the consultancy period, which ended on 26th June 1997, South Lanarkshire Council received hundreds of representations condemning the proposed reorganisation. The good news is that the Council's Policy and Resources Committee, at its meeting on 21st October, approved significant amendments to these proposals, and issued a revised scheme with a number of key changes.

The most important changes affected the boundaries of community councils in the area. The original proposals were for a reduction from 65 to 49 community councils, but the revised document raised this number to 57. In essence, this meant that Black Mount remained virtually unaltered. Its geographical area remained the same, with the only change being a reduction in the number of community councillors from 12 to 9.

If you wish to read about what might have been, the original reorganisation proposals are outlined below.

The Council proposals

South Lanarkshire Council was seeking to reorganise the various community councils within its area of responsibility, following on from the reorganisation of Local Government in 1996. They issued a consultation document (copies of which were displayed in both Elsrickle and Dolphinton Halls) for a unified scheme for the establishment of new community councils, including a new code of practice. The existing 24 community councils in South Lanarkshire were to be cut to just 13. They set a consultation period from 1st May to 26th June, and sought feedback on the proposed new community council boundaries and the number of community councillors in each area.

The proposal for the Black Mount area was to merge it with Biggar and Symington. The new community council was to be called Biggar/Blackmount - note the spelling, theirs, not ours. This new area has an electorate of 3,154. Currently, there are about 430 on the electoral role for Black Mount, about 700 in Symington, and just over 2,000 in Biggar.

The new community council would have 9 members, 6 who would be elected and 3 nominated or co-opted. In contrast, the three existing community councils have about 40 members between them. This change seemed certain to significantly reduce local representation, contrary to the objectives of the community council movement.

There was no suggestion in the consultation paper that the new area would be sub-divided into separate divisions. The understanding was that the 6 elected members would come from the electorate of the whole area. There were no guarantees that these would include representatives from Black Mount at all.

Black Mount Community Council View

The community council accepted that there was a need to rationalise the terms of reference of community councils and welcomed some of the ideas put forward. However, the boundary proposals were unacceptable, and it was considered that South Lanarkshire Council had misjudged the situation and offended existing communities by these insensitive proposals.

Contact was made with other community councils regarding the whole issue. Biggar unanimously rejected the new proposals and sent a strongly worded letter to South Lanarkshire Council. Symington were similarly unhappy about the proposals. Concern had been publicly expressed by Tarbrax, New Lanark and Rigside, with reactions which matched our own. In fact, Biggar felt so strongly about the matter that they proposed a meeting between themselves, Black Mount and Symington, to be followed by a joint open public meeting on the subject.

The needs and interests of Biggar and Symington are very different to ours. They, similarly, did not wish to be embroiled in issues affecting Elsrickle, Dolphinton, Dunsyre, Walston, Weston, etc. In terms of representation, one option that South Lanarkshire Council e indicated that they might consider is that the new Biggar/Blackmount community council might contain three divisions, to ensure a minimum level of representation, but this would still mean that overall control of the council would be from Biggar.

There was considerable commentary on the whole issue in the Lanark Gazette, with absolutely no support for South Lanarkshire Council’s proposals. Indeed, the headline of the 23rd April edition ‘Outrage as axe falls on wee councils’ very aptly summarised local opinion.

Action by Black Mount Community Council

After the consultation document was published, an Extraordinary Meeting was held on 27th April, attended by our then Councillor, Rev. Bev Gauld, and reported in the Lanark Gazette on 30th April. The matter was discussed again at the regular Community Council meeting on 11th May, when it was agreed that a special edition of the Bugle should be prepared.

Black Mount Community Council formulated its response to the consultation paper, and this was considered at the June meeting, before submission to South Lanarkshire Council.

The Present

In December 1998, the boundary of Black Mount Community Council was changed to include Newbigging together with some additional hamlets and farms, some of which were formerly part of the Carnwath Community Council area or Libberton Parish and Carmichael Ward.

Under the terms of the Local Government Reorganisation of Community Councils, existing Community Councils were formally dissolved on 17th September 1999.

The ‘new’ Black Mount Community Council has 9 members drawn from the above area, 6 elected and 3 nominated or co-opted.

Article compiled by Brian Curle and Joan Stephenson

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