Anger has escalated in Monifieth after a failed attempt to use a near £1 million land sale windfall to fund a local community centre.
Councillors have been told the payment for housing development land sold off by Angus Council will now be used for LED street lighting across the county and will not be specifically targeted on the burgh
The move comes after Monifieth missed out on lottery funding for a £2 million community hub because the area was considered “too affluent”.
The land sale decision — following a single-vote defeat at the area’s policy and resources committee — is the second time a bid to spend the money in south Angus has hit the buffers, after the suggestion of using it to enhance skip site provision at the height of last year’s recycling centres shake-up row was also rejected.
The authority received the £932,000 from housebuilder Taylor Wimpey in return for a slice of ground it needed to access its development of hundreds of homes at Victoria Street.
Monifieth and Sidlaws SNP councillor Sheila Hands urged the committee to defer a decision on spending the money on projects such as street lighting, real time bus information signs and temperature control systems in council houses.
“Since this has been drawn up, we have discovered that the Big Lottery is not going to fund a community hub for Monifieth and I would ask that the potential for using this funding is at least looked at,” she said.
“This is a unique opportunity to use this money to support the community and the community aspirations which have been heard loud and clear. It is an opportunity we will not see again.”
Council leader Bob Myles responded: “While I would say well done for fighting your corner for Monifieth, I am sure every councillor would have their projects that they would like to see money go to.
“The policy and budget strategy group (PBSG) discussed this and I am not prepared to defer it.
“It was agreed unanimously by the PBSG that these were the projects which would give us best value and if we keep deferring I think we would lose some of those savings.”
