An environmental charity set up to help Cupar become a “thriving, environmentally-friendly town” has been forced to distance itself from any perceived links to Scottish nationalism, following a backlash from several members.
On Monday Sustainable Cupar secretary Jenny Collins sent a mass email to members highlighting a Rally for Scottish Independence to be held in Edinburgh on Saturday September 21.
However, several members of the community group quickly complained this was an inappropriate move as they thought Sustainable Cupar had no political affiliation, with several members threatening to resign.
One Sustainable Cupar member said: “I don’t think it’s appropriate to promote political views using the Sustainable Cupar email database.
“Whilst I might agree with your opinions, it is of dubious integrity to use information gathered from individuals with an interest in sustainability and utilise to put forward your own specific political sentiments.
“If I have misunderstood the group vision then I apologise and would ask that you remove me from your contact list, as I’ve no wish to be in a group with any political affiliations.”
A Sustainable Cupar trustee said: “In the case of Sustainable Cupar, one of the big draws to the group, for me, was that it was politically neutral…We all have limited time to give to Sustainable Cupar and I think the independence debate could end up being a time consuming distraction.”
The chairman of Sustainable Cupar, Andy Collins who, away from the charity, is also the spokesman for the Yes to Independence campaign in North East Fife told members: “You will have noticed that some members have written to complain about a recent mailing concerning the independence rally.
“Firstly, I would like to make it absolutely clear that party politics has no place in Sustainable Cupar. It would be both inappropriate and against the law. We are an inclusive organisation which has members from all the main political parties and many without any particular political allegiance.
“Secondly, and this is my fault, the email was intended to alert members of the date so that other Sustainable Cupar events are not planned on the same day because many Sustainable Cupar members will be at the rally.
“I am sorry if the actual email looked as though it was promoting the event. There does seem to be a lot of confusion about the referendum, which has nothing to do with party politics.
“The referendum is about constitutional matters. Basically, whether Scotland will be better governed in the future from London or Edinburgh. All the political parties have a view the Westminster parties on one side and the Holyrood parties on the other.
“The cynic in me attributes this dichotomy to whether these parties stand to gain or lose members and influence after independence. It is understood that the aims of many charities will be helped or hindered by the result, and the charity regulator has issued detailed guidance about charities’ involvement with the referendum.
“We need to decide whether the aims of Sustainable Cupar are likely to be affected by the result and I will sugest that the trustees meet to discuss this soon.”
Sustainable Cupar was set up in 2009 and aims to raise awareness of green issues and to promote and support changes to more sustainable lifestyles.
Sustainable Cupar is open to anyone with an interest in the future of the historic market town. It has a number of sub-groups which concentrate on particular areas: natural environment, including the FAB sub-group, transport and energy. These sub-groups have separate meetings and events that concentrate on their particular area of interest.