Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Turriffic news for north-east heritage centre

The municipal building in Turriff - often called the town house - is to be transferred through a community asset transfer
The municipal building in Turriff - often called the town house - is to be transferred through a community asset transfer

A north-east heritage society said it was “absolutely thrilled” after getting the green light to buy a former council building – securing the “past for the future”.

The Turriff and District Heritage Society plans were backed by councillors yesterday, who agreed unanimously the transfer of ownership should go ahead for £1.

The group has provided museum services in and around Turriff for nearly four decades and has used the power of the Community Empowerment Scotland Act to apply for the community asset transfer of the municipal building.

The decision itself made history, because it was the first time such a move had been heard in the public domain.

Members of the Formartine area committee backed the scheme, but chairman councillor Rob Merson asked for a report to be issued by officers after concerns were raised about any such asset reverting back to the commercial sector.

He said: “We want to know how to deal with this in the future and explore pre-emptive clauses – the council should be given first refusal if it ever goes on the market again.”

Heritage society chairwoman Judith Mackie responded: “We are absolutely thrilled. The municipal building, or town house, as it is often called, was gifted to the people of Turriff by provost Hutcheon in 1909- so it is great we can secure its future.”

The society had to convert itself into a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation last year – which is a legal form unique to Scottish charities, enabling them to enter into contracts, employ staff, incur debts, own property, sue and be sued. It also provides a high degree of protection against liability.

Mrs Mackie said the last few months had been hard work, but she and her colleagues are looking forward to the imminent opening of their new home.

She added: “We have been able to bring several important local artefacts back to their place of origin – including the Council table and chairs and the picture of Provost Hutcheon.

“I swear he’s smiling as he looks down on us in the room it was originally commissioned for.”

In a report to the area committee, Aberdeenshire’s director of business services, Ritchie Johnson, urged councillors to back the deal to transfer the municipal building to the society for a nominal fee of £1.

He concluded: “Officers have evaluated that this is reasonable.”

The heritage centre opens on May 1.