Council ground bid error is 'unfortunate'

Renfrewshire Council will recommence the public consultation for a football club's bid to take on the ownership of its home ground in Lochwinnoch.

- JACK THOMSON, LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER

Calderglen Community SCIO, formed from Calderglen AFC, had expected to seal the transfer of the playing fields in Lochlip Road for £1 after the deal was approved last August.

But the local authority has now agreed to pause the formalisation of that process after it admitted and apologised for an “administrative error” first time round.

The decision to do so was rubber-stamped by elected members at a meeting of the community asset transfer (CAT) sub-committee on Wednesday. Councillor Iain McMillan, a Labour representative for Johnstone South and Elderslie, said: “This is unfortunate, what's happened.

“Sometimes mistakes are made, we're all guilty of making mistakes at some time and I can understand that there might be a bit of frustration from the people who wanted this to go ahead.

“If we have to go out to further consultation, so be it, because obviously we need to do it right.