Dunblane Development Trust - General News

Community View - September 2004

ABBOTSFORD

As many of you will know there is a disagreement between Dunblane Senior Citizens (Members Social Club) and Stirling Council regarding current activities relating to the prospective uses of proceeds that may arise from the possible sale of a house called Abbotsford, in St Margarets Drive, together with a small Trust Fund that still exists, all from the will of Thomas Brittain, who used to reside in Abbotsford.

There have been confusing and conflicting reports, rumours and speculation from a number of sources over the years about what is or is not happening and how it may or may not be resolved eventually. This is not good for our community and in particular for those who are closely involved in trying to achieve a satisfactory resolution. It is hoped that this publication of a short summary of the history and current position will help.

Back in November 1963, when Dunblane was in the Perth & Kinross area, the will of Thomas Brittain, who resided at Abbotsford, included leaving the house and grounds to Perth & Kinross Joint County Council to provide a Home for Aged and Infirm Persons of both sexes, with preference being given to residents of the Burgh of Dunblane and the parish of Dunblane & Lecropt. After other bequests of some cash and property to heirs and others, the balance of his estate was also left to Perth & Kinross Joint County Council to set-up “The Thomas Brittain Trust Fund”. This fund was to be administered by the Council and a committee appointed by them to provide for the following:-

• Maintenance and upkeep of the fabric of the building.
• Furnishing, decorating and other purposes necessary to keep the house, garden and precepts in good order and repair.
• Financial support for residents who could not support themselves.

It was further specified in the will that if this was not done, the house was to be sold and all the proceeds shared between his heirs.

In May 1967, Eventide Home was opened by Perth & Kinross Council. Later, through local government reorganisations, Dunblane transferred to Central Regional Council and then to Stirling Council, but the ownership and management of Eventide Home continued to be with Perth & Kinross Council.

In 1997, the home was closed because it was not commercially viable with a capacity of only 8 residents (of which only 1 was previously a Dunblane resident at the time). After closing, internal furnishings were sold, the building was boarded and secured and Perth & Kinross Council continued to carry out essential work to maintain it in a reasonably tidy, watertight and secure state. In the Thomas Brittain will, there had been no instruction as to what should happen if the Home was set-up and subsequently closed, so effectively the benefits from the will became “locked-up”.

In December 1999, a letter to Helen Munro of Stirling Council confirmed that the home had been closed because of it had proved to be not viable for the purposes set-out in the Trust. It was also confirmed that the terms of the Trust would need to be changed to permit a change of use for the bequest.

Many letters and other communications were then exchanged between Dunblane Community Council, Perth & Kinross Council and Stirling Council to deal with the maintenance of the property, inside and out, and to try and find a way to release the benefits from the bequest back to the elderly & infirm of Dunblane & Lecropt.

In October 2001, because of apparent lack of progress, Dunblane Community Council took the advice of a local lawyer who advised the matter should be raised with the Auditor General Scotland and the Commissioners for Local Administration Scotland. The Auditor General was sent the information and they replied by saying that they had sent the information on to external auditors of Stirling Council for consideration and attention.

In December 2001, a letter from the Chief Executive of Stirling Council and the MSP, Sylvia Jackson, confirmed that discussions were ongoing with Perth & Kinross Council.

Over the next 18 months or so, the Community Council continued to write regularly to both Perth & Kinross Council and Stirling Council to maintain pressures on maintenance and to encourage progress to a final resolution. Leaving such a lovely building in such a prestigious location to sit there and rot was absolutely not acceptable to anyone and of course nobody was deriving any benefits from the bequest. All that the Community Council knew over this period was that the two Councils and their lawyers were investigating and that we would eventually get a legal opinion.

Eventually, in June 2003, we were given details of “Opinion of Senior Counsel for Perth & Kinross Council” which included recommendations that the house and the Trust Fund should be considered as a single public trust and that, if released through a successful petition to the Scottish Executive, the proceeds should be “for purposes which are consistent with the spirit of the Trust Disposition and Settlement” and that “It would require the new Trust to be for the benefit of elderly people, preferably those of limited means, and with a preference to those in the Dunblane area, but must not permit funds to be applied in relief of public expenditure”. The Community Council disagreed with the lack of reference to the infirm, which were covered in the original bequest, and the absolute restriction against funds being applied in relief of public expenditure because the original setting up of a nursing home was to an extent relief of this nature.

Since then, Stirling Council has been trying to progress this matter through the Court of Session and the latest news that we have is that the Court will be deciding whether to appoint a Reporter for this case or not when they next meet in September.

So, what are the main points of disagreement between Dunblane Senior Citizens (Members Social Club) and Stirling Council. They are:

Who should have the responsibility for administering and using the net proceeds after the resolution of the Trust?

• The Legal Advisors to Stirling Council have recommended that to ensure benefits are potentially available to a wide range of the elderly and infirm, both mobile and house-bound, the proceeds should be administered and distributed by four charities. All have activities covering Dunblane and Lecropt and it is expected that this is the only area in which they will be able to grant benefits. The four charities are Princess Royal Carers Centre, Alzheimer’s Scotland , Crossroads ( West Stirling ) Branch and Dunblane Development Trust. Having a number of vehicles for distribution means that if any of them cease to operate or default in any way against terms and conditions that will accompany such a distribution, their allocations can be transferred to the continuing, compliant organisations that are left. If there was only one vehicle and this one ceased to exist or defaulted in any way, the remaining proceeds would again be locked up and unavailable to the elderly and infirm of our community.
• The Community Council originally recommended that the Dunblane Development Trust should be the administration and distribution vehicle but, after hearing the legal advice and considering its reasoning, it decided to support the legal view as expressed above.
• In June 2004, the Stirling Councillors approved a paper submitted to their meeting by Community Services, which incorporated the recommendations of the legal advisors and recommended formal proceedings should be started through the Court of Sessions.
• Dunblane Senior Citizens (Members Social Club) has made a strong bid to be granted the right to use the whole of the proceeds to provide better facilities for their members in existing premises in the High Street.

What should the proceeds be used for?

We will have to wait the decisions of the Court of Sessions or the subsequent work of a Reporter, if appointed. If the terms of the trust are changed to allow the sale of the house and the release of the proceeds, we expect there to be conditions attached to both where the monies can be spent and what uses it can and cannot be used for.

In the meantime, the Development Trust and the other three charities currently identified to have the responsibilities for the fund have been asked by Stirling Council to submit a list of possible valid uses that they can identify so that these can be used as guidance for the Court of Sessions/Reporter. Dunblane Senior Citizens (Members Social Club) has already made its own submission.

Dunblane Community Council has been working closely throughout all of this with Stirling Council and the subject of Abbotsford has been discussed at many Community Council meetings. All the meetings are minuted and all associated documentation is available to the public. We actively encourage public attendance at all of our meetings and particularly so if there is a specific issue of community interest. When the Community Council learned late in 2003 that Dunblane Senior Citizens (Members Social Club) was concerned about the path that this matter was taking, the Community Council immediately tried to resolve the concerns by twice offering to hold a specially convened meeting between the two organisations at which all aspects of the history and current activities could be openly discussed. Regrettably, the meeting offers were not taken up.

Mike Seal.

Chairman, Dunblane Community Council.

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