A group of enthusiasts who were granted ownership of a popular Speyside attraction from Moray Council earlier this year are now fighting a bid to apply extra annual costs to the venue.
Aberlour Community Association successfully negotiated a community asset transfer on the visitor centre at the village’s former railway station in March.
At the time, councillors commended the local group on an “exemplary” business plan, but members have since been told they may have to pay up to £500 a year for road maintenance fees.
Association spokesman John Milne said: “It was only after the transfer was agreed that Moray Council added an extra cost for repairs to a road behind the station.
“Nobody actually owns the road, but the council does manage it and it leads to our car park.
“We objected to the request on the grounds that this charge had never been mentioned to us before at any stage of our talks with the council.”
Speyside and Glenlivet councillor Pearl Paul raised the issue with corporate director Mark Palmer when Moray Council’s policy and resources committee met this week.
She said: “We praised this group in the past for an excellent business plan, and now how do you expect they feel after being asked for more money after the transfer is done and dusted?
“We really need to get our act together on this.”
Mr Palmer said the council was still learning how to handle community asset transfers, and described the dispute with the Aberlour group as “extremely unfortunate”.
Last night, a council spokesman said it would look again at the charge.
He said: “The adjacent stretch of road and car park attached to the centre is unadopted and would be jointly maintained by the properties that front on to it.
“The council sought to clarify with the community association the responsibilities that go with title to the property.
“In this case, normally the property owner would be liable for one-sixth of the costs of maintenance, almost 17%.
“However, the council reduced that to 5%, or a maximum of £500 each year, for the association.
“That proved unacceptable to the group and the matter has now been referred to the council’s asset management working group for further consideration.”
The centre opened for the season on Thursday, April 2, and since then it has welcomed more than 600 visitors.