Blackburn looks set to lose out on £10,000 of community funding because there’s no takers for the cash.
The news that a pot of £18,000 allocated to the town was met with only £8,000 worth of applications was met with surprise by councillors on the local area committee.
The council usually struggles to fully fund demands for community spending in the hard-hit town.
READ MORE: West Lothian schools holiday dates agreed as week-long February break returns
The town’s cash allocation was part of the Scottish Government’s Town Centre Capital Fund for this financial year.
West Lothian Council set aside £500,000 for the county wide Town Centre Fund this year to provide support for town centre re-vitalisation schemes and community led regeneration .
For the Whitburn and Blackburn the five communities in the ward were allocated a total of £82,822. Allocated by population, Whitburn had the highest amount - £28,170 and Blackburn the next highest £18,889.
The deadline from receipt of applications was set as 22 April to allow for decisions to be taken and projects delivered within the stated delivery deadline of projects having contracts committed by 31 March 2023, and having projects completed by 30 September 2023.
All five settlements under-spent, some such as Greenrigg, allocated £11,641 and Seafield allocated £12,053, by only £1. In Whitburn the underspend was £170 but in Blackburn it was a whopping £9,956.
Chairing the local committee Councillor George Paul said: “ It’s very surprising, I can’t understand why Blackburn would have an underspend of £10,000.”
Kirsteen Sullivan asked council officers for comment, adding that usually councillors had to try and distribute funds equitably among competing groups rather than be confronted with an underspend.
No other applications from the ward were forthcoming or outstanding so the money will effectively be “returned” to a West Lothian pot for wider distribution following an earlier agreement by the council Executive.
Local regeneration officer Michelle Kirkbright told the meeting: “It was well advertised. We sent out numerous posts and spoke to number of groups. "Some groups felt they were not able to deliver in timescales and a lot of groups are still working on programmes from the last round of funding . We only had a few that came forward and took up allocation.
“It was a bit of shock to myself,” she added.
Councillor Sullivan asked if £10,000 fund could be retained until costs were finalised for the projects awarded and the figures being more concrete.
She added: “Given there’s still uncertainty around the figures. It would be good to get those figures firmed up. It’s quite a substantial sum of money to be lost from the ward.”
Whitburn regeneration officer Scott McKillop promised to take the request back to senior staff.
The projects which have been awarded funds in Blackburn include Blackburn Family Centre awarded £6,373. The project will provide a hub for communication between the community and third-sector organisations. It will also help celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the Trindley Knowe and Blackburn Family Centre. It will create an outdoor community area with tree planting and information boards.
Also benefiting are Blackburn Community Education Association’s Messy Monkeys group awarded £250 for promotional banners, the Place to be United @ Blackburn run by Blackburn Utd community sports awarded £1'869 to purchase IT and audio equipment and Community Action Blackburn to spend £440 on smoke free signs for playgrounds.
