Community ownership of a former outdoor activity centre in Castle Douglas looks set to be rubber stamped next week.
Castle Douglas Development Forum has already been given the go ahead to take over the centre beside Carlingwark Loch by the town’s common good fund sub committee.
And on Tuesday, members of the council’s finance, procurement and transformation committee will be asked to rubber stamp the move.
The recommendation from the common good sub committee is that the forum is given a 25-year lease at a rent of £50 a month.
This is on the condition the facility returns to the common good should the lease be terminated early.
The forum will also have to engage with the community in the planning stage and provide regular public updates and meetings.
A report for the finance committee reveals the building closed in 2019 and, aside from a six-month period in 2021 when it was used by the NHS and army during the coronavirus pandemic, has been shut ever since.
It costs the council around 21,000 a year in maintenance, with the building valued at £300,000. It could potentially generate a rent of £35,000.
The report adds that the development forum is the only interested party in the building and it has been calculated the social value of the deal would be £4.10 for every £1 “of proposed discount to be invested by the council in the transfer”.
The common good fund sub committee is against the move after raising concerns over the group’s business case and the fact the council recently invested more than £200,000 in the site, which generates a profit of around £50,000 a year for the council.
