council

A framework for setting up community councils in Scotland was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 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.

Community councils in East Lothian receive financial support by way of a general administration grant from the local authority, based on the number of electors in their area They also qualify for revenue and capital grants to fund particular projects in their community. Within the last 10 years an association of community councils has been formed in East Lothian. This association was set up primarily to establish a forum where matters of importance to the 19 community councils within East Lothian may be discussed.

The Community Council in Ormiston

In Ormiston the community council is made up of 10 elected members who meet, in public, in the village hall to conduct their business. These meeting normally take place on the third Monday of each month.

Over the previous 15 years or so there have been several matters/projects that have dominated the work of the community council namely; opencast mining, mains gas supply, festive lighting and the provision of a heritage site.

Opencast Mining

From 1994 until 2002 Ormiston and the surrounding area were subjected to three fairly large planning applications for opencast mining operations. The Ormiston community virtually unanimously opposed all three. The local planning authority rejected all three applications. In each case the planning authority’s decision was appealed to the Scottish Secretary/Scottish Executive. One was eventually withdrawn while the other two after a public enquiry were rejected. The community council held several public meetings on this matter during this time and carried out surveys of public opinion with respect to each application. All our findings were articulated to the planning authority and where relevant the public enquiry. It was to the great relief of the community council and the community as a whole that for the time being this episode is behind us.

Mains Gas Supply

It had been of great concern to the residents of Ormiston that unlike most other comparable communities they did not have access to a mains gas supply. After a series of public meetings, surveys and communications with British Gas/Transco in 1993, British Gas/Transco concluded it would not be viable to introduce a gas supply to Ormiston. After a period of about 4 years Transco was asked to re-examine the situation. This time the local authority played a more central role and as a result of their commitment and that of owner-occupiers in the village a gas supply was established in Ormiston in 1999.

Festive Lighting

Since the abandonment of the Village Christmas tree in the 1980’s due to continued vandalism the community council received many requests over a number of years to re-establish some form of festive lighting in the village. In 1997 a decision was taken to erect festive lighting displays across parts of the Main Street and on a few buildings in the same location. This was funded partly by a local authority grant and through local fund-raising initiatives. The official “switch-on” ceremony, conducted by Councillor David Costello, was attended by some 300 people and has continued to be very much a community evening ever since, with the local High School Brass Band accompanying those gathered in their carol singing and when the Primary School Choir sing a couple of carols of their own.

Since 2002 a Christmas tree has been added at the site of the former library, now the Heritage Site, as well as some additional displays. Hopefully the community council can achieve further improvements in future years to what has been a well-received venture.

The last 2 years have seen the replacement of the original lighting display with several trees in the Mains Street being lit with small white lights. It is hoped to add to these on a regular basis with local fund raising.

Heritage Site Project

Quite recently the site of the former library has been made into a Heritage Site. The site contains displays mounted on a stone cairn within a cobbled landscaped setting, surrounded by gardens and a parking area. The displays lay out much of the vast history of Ormiston, which can be seen on this web site.

Although the local authority has funded the project, the community council played a major role in the concept and features within the site.