Use Common Good Fund to help Musselburgh High Street, says councillor

Councillor Stuart Currie, who chairs the Musselburgh Common Good Committee, is keen to see cash from the fund invested in the town to ensure that traders can get onto High Street to create jobs.

He said: “The Musselburgh Common Good Fund now has cash reserves in excess of £5 million and has an annual income that has averaged £400,000 per year from rent paid to use shops and buildings in the town.

“For more than two years I have been asking East Lothian Council to use a fraction of this cash pile to put in place a capital investment strategy to invest in assets that can benefit the local community in the years to come but sadly the silence has been deafening.

“This must now change.

“In the wake of the pandemic, we need to regenerate our High Street and we can start by acquiring some assets that can be used to rent at favourable terms to local businesses who are desperate to get onto our High Street.

“For example, the premises being used by Zero Waste, that were formerly Mall Furnishing, are up for sale and, without a buyer, will just lie empty.

“The Common Good should step in to buy the premises at best value and create a similar enterprise to the whynot? shop in North Berwick, which has many small units within that helps traders get onto High Street.

“This will bring in rent and income for decades to come that will go back into the fund and more than cover the costs of purchase and maintaining.”

Mr Currie added: “I cannot understand why there is such a lack of ambition by East Lothian Council, who administer these funds, to do what Musselburgh Town Council did years ago by acquiring shops that then pay rent for years to come on a commercial basis and help sustain our town’s Common Good Fund.

“My fear is that someone in Haddington believes these funds can be taken away from Musselburgh and used elsewhere in East Lothian.

“It is time for the common good of our town to be put first to build sustainable businesses and create local jobs now before it is too late.”

Common good funds in Scotland originated in the 15th century and are the assets and income of some former burghs. They represent a substantial portfolio of land, property and investments and, by law, continue to exist for the common good of the inhabitants of the former burghs.

East Lothian Council administers the assets of the Common Good Fund and the committee, which makes decisions on grants, consists of the town’s four councillors: Mr Currie, Andy Forrest, Katie Mackie and John Williamson.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council said: “Musselburgh Common Good Fund must be used within the strict guidelines under which it was set up and must be used for the benefit of all residents of the Musselburgh Area.

“Investment of the fund is managed by independent experts in line with industry standards, as set out in the Council’s approved Treasury management and investment strategy.”