Clock Tower to be owned by Dufftown Community Association
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DUFFTOWN and District Community Association is hoping to take over ownership of the town's clock tower before the end of 2019 after agreeing a sale with Moray Council.
The council currently runs the famous town centre tower, but the community association has been in talks to take over its ownership since April as it aims to "preserve it for future generations".
On August 30, the transfer of the ownership between the two – which sees no fee involved – was approved at Elgin Sheriff Court.
Speaking to the Northern Scot, Dufftown Community Association chairman Fraser McGill highlighted just how important the clock tower is to Dufftown, and why he wants community ownership.
He said: "The clock tower is the most iconic thing in Dufftown and it sits right in the heart of the community. We want to keep it as an ongoing community centre and to preserve it for future generations."
The process in its entirety, if finished by the end of the year, will have taken less than eight months and Mr McGill had words of thanks for the council, who he says have made the takeover as easy as possible.
He added: "Everything has run really smoothly with the council. They were able to provide an update at every stage.
"In terms of time scale, it has been on par with what we expected. We knew it would take about six months and everything was laid out to us at the start."
The Clock Tower Fundraising Club, which has around 60 members, has also been active over the last year, and Fraser hopes the community association can thank the volunteers by hosting a visit to the clock tower at the start of 2020 – if ownership has been transferred by then.
Fraser also had a word of thanks for Thorntons solicitors in Dundee, who have worked free of charge.
"A lot of communities who have done this have had to pay," he explained. "We approached local solicitors and they were all either busy or charging more than £1000. Luckily I knew of Thorntons and they have been a great help."
More news on other issues is expected to be coming from Dufftown Community Association in the near future. To keep up-to-date, like their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DufftownCommuityAssociation/.
