Castle Douglas Development Forum is set to take over the former outdoor activity centre at Carlingwark Loch.
But Castle Douglas common good fund committee councillors knocked back a second bid from the group to lease Lochside Caravan Park.
Both assets are on common good land – and the forum wants to run both under its development plans for Lochside Park.
The council operates the caravan park at a profit and ran the outdoor activity centre until it closed five years ago.
The committee agreed to recommend transferring the centre – but only after Councillor John Young asked for an adjournment for advice on whether the property would revert back to the common good, not the council, if lease terms were not met.
He said: “I feel that we would be letting the community of Castle Douglas down if we proceeded without accurate legal information.”
Chairman Iain Howie agreed, saying: “We are looking for clarification that we are not going to be in a position where we inadvertently hand over an asset worth £300,000 and not get it back.”
Councillor Howie said after the meeting reconvened: “We have managed to resolve the issue by looking at sticking in an extra condition.
“It will state that all common good property will revert to the common good should there be a default on the lease at any future date.”
That satisfied the committee, which agree to recommend that a 25-year lease be given to the forum, subject to legal consents, at a rent of £50 a month.
Conditions include ongoing community engagement in the planning stage to ensure the project design and development remains on track, with regular public updates and meetings.
However, the forum’s request for a 25-year lease on Lochside Caravan Park was turned down amid concerns over its business case.
Mr Young said: “There is no detailed financial information shown in the business plan to accompany this asset transfer request.
“[The report] scoring process recommends not to transfer as the discount being requested is disproportionate to the benefits being proposed.
“I don’t believe the application adequately demonstrates the necessary increase in social value, to be quite honest, that would justify a departure from the current arrangements regarding the caravan park.”
Mr Howie said: “The council currently brings in a profit of approximately £50,000 a year.
“That supports the likes of foodbanks and tackling poverty which is obviously one of our priorities.
The committee agreed to recommend that the asset transfer request be refused.
