Tuesday October 28th 2025
Haddington Town Hall, East Lothian
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Community groups will be given council support to take over local buildings as part of a move to hand over control of village halls, community centres and redevelop library services across East Lothian.
East Lothian Councillors today gave the green light to officers to produce a business case for creating six new library and area hubs in towns across the county.
The move means alternative library service models will be considered for outlying areas along with local community buildings being made available for local groups to consider taking over.
Councillors agreed to support the introduction of two dedicated council officers to provide assistance to community groups who want to take over local assets to ensure they are supported through the process from accessing grants and funding to establishing governance.
And they gave the go ahead to officers to continue consultations with communities over the future of facilities as well as establishing a community benefits subsidised lease policy to provide clarity and transparency around the
process for applying discounts on rent for community organisations.
The council’s executive director for place Tom Reid told a meeting of elected members the initial consultation into the community assets had been both ‘humbling and inspiring’.
He told them: “Hearing about the groups who use these facilities and the work they do to support their communities has been humbling and inspiring.
“We want to work in partnership with the community groups and support them, to empower them to take on the assets and make them work for them.”
Haddington Town House and Dunbar Town Hall are both community buildings which will be put up for local groups to take on with plans to move the council chambers from the 18th century Haddington building.
It is understood the council is considering moving its chambers into the former Haddington Sheriff Court building which closed ten years ago and has been transferred into council ownership.
There are also plans to look into using the old town hall in Musselburgh as one of the new hubs which would mean council services, which had been in the Brunton Hall prior to its closure, could be moved there.
The Brunton Hall is facing demolition and work has begun to seek a commercial partner to support its redevelopment as an arts venue for the town.
The proposals were unanimously backed by councillors who welcome the ‘exciting approach’ to using community assets.
Council leader Norman Hampshire stressed the plans were not about closing buildings but finding a way for them to work for their communities in the future.
He said: “It is about consulting with our communities. Everyone is aware of the difficult financial position the council is in and if we continue the way we have always done it then closures will come.
“This is about finding alternative ways to keep these facilities operating in a way communities want.”
Councillor Lachlan Bruce, Conservative, welcomed the proposals which he said would give community groups opportunities to work with the council in deciding the future of their buildings.
He referenced 18th century politician Edmund Burke’s theory on society and ‘little platoons’ saying: “Society is not built from the top down but from the bottom up. The opportunities this presents to communities to review assets and give then new life and fresh opportunities is welcomed.”
Councillor Lyn Jardine, SNP, also supported the plans welcoming the addition of council support workers to help groups.
She said: “This is about giving communities the tools they need, not just the tenancy of the buildings.”
The consultation process for the new hubs and review of community assets has been carried out over several months already and Mr Reid told the meeting some ‘early adopters’ were already on board to take on some of the buildings while others will take more time.
The council unanimously backed plans to continue the public consultation, draw up a business case for the new area hubs, engage further with community groups over buildings and investigate alternative models for library services.
Full details of the report can be found here.
Tweet Share on Facebook
