Council slammed following shock resignations from community council

Peebles Community Council has been rocked by the shock resignation of both the chair and vice-chair amid claims of bullying and having their views ignored by elected members and officers of Scottish Borders Council.

The resignations were triggered by a catalogue of frustrations over a long period, which led to a tense and difficult relationship with the previous Tweeddale Councillors.

And a desire to re-set that relationship with the six new elected members turned sour pretty swiftly with chairman, Les Turnbull, slamming their response to the community council’s concerns to the town’s anti-social behaviour problems as “disingenuous, discourteous and unprofessional.”

However, there is a back story to the resignations and a build-up of circumstances.

Mr Turnbull has served on the community council for six years, but his tenure as chairman for over three years has been blighted by accusations of breaching data protection, after he supplied a local reporter with the legitimate recording of the community council’s public meeting held online due to Covid restrictions.

A move which Mr Turnbull says he was “bullied” into apologising for by the previous administration.

This alleged breach was thrown out by the Information Commissioner as “not serious or significant” enough to be investigated.

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