An unholy row has broken out between a community council and the Church of Scotland.
Springfield and Gretna Green Community Council members have been outraged by the proposed £90,000 sale of a church hall and adjacent car park.
The community group say they have used the car park for more than 20 years to access their own hall. And their chairwoman Isabella Tranter branded the move “un-Christian like”.
She insisted if the Old Gretna Church Hall car park is built on then it could cause road chaos with drivers forced to park on the busy road.
She said: “The building has been there since the 1890s and we don’t know what is going to end up there.
“But if the car park is taken away then people will park round about the area and it could be dangerous with the amount of traffic there is.
“The building and car park are situated across from the World Famous Blacksmith’s and it is a busy junction with tourists visiting and weddings taking place.
“There are also HGVs thundering past plus horses and carriages, so it could cause a lot of problems and it would be a worry. The blacksmith’s is the second most visited place in Scotland and gets tourists from all over the world.
“We have a separate hall and had been using the car park for meetings and events for well over 20 years and it helps with access into the back of our own hall.
“We would like to buy it as a community asset transfer.
“I know the church needs money and I sympathise with them and that they need to get rid of a lot of assets. But this has been in the community for years.
“We don’t know what will happen to the building, it could even be knocked down because it all depends on who buys it.”
She added: “We had a meeting late last week with the Church of Scotland and they said they will be putting a closing date on it.
“So although we own our own hall through a community asset transfer, it looks like we are going to get a letter from the Church of Scotland’s solicitors to say we are being evicted from the car park.”
A Church of Scotland spokesman said: “The congregation of Gretna Old, Gretna St Andrews, Half Morton and Kirkpatrick Fleming is committed to ensuring it has well equipped spaces in the right places to meet 21st century needs.
“As part of work to determine how limited resources should be allocated as part of a realistic and sustainable new era of mission, the congregation decided to sell Old Gretna Church Hall which has not been used for years and is no longer financially viable.
“The proceeds of the sale and money raised from the sale of Kirkpatrick Fleming Church, which is under offer, will be reinvested back into the Church in the local area to ensure it continues to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in word and deed.”
The property is on the market for offers over £90,000.
