Covid-19 has forced many organisations to rethink how they conduct their business.
Community councils have had to find new ways of keeping things ticking over.
For Borgue Community Council, going online to hold meetings has not proved too much of a handicap. Chairman John Shields said: “We’ve had three meetings via Zoom so far. Everyone is getting used to it and it is working very well.
“Jane Maitland called in from her house. It’s very handy for councillors working out of hours because they can just dial in. We get as many people attending online as we would have at a normal meeting in the hall. And surprisingly the technology is working very well.”
Meetings have been a bit more problematic for Dalbeattie Community Council.
Treasurer Linda Ashton said: “It has been very difficult. We have been communicating but not always by email. There’s things we need to discuss but things are so restricted we have not been able to do that.
“People have been asking what’s going on with the pond. Dalbeattie is horrendous for shouting to get things done and then nobody volunteers to help.”
Kirkcudbright Community Council has been using Zoom to keep in touch after realising that Covid was no flash in the pan. Chairwoman Lesley Garbutt said: “The meetings mostly have been for information and discussion.
“Fortunately we have not had any really big issues to deal with. But we could very quickly convene if we needed to. At first we were quite quiet and thinking this would not go on for very long and normal service would shortly be resumed. It has become apparent that is not going to happen.”
Balmaghie Community Council has not met formally since March.
“We’ve sent out emails to community councillors and passed information to others. It’s not ideal but we’ve been phoning back and forward as well.”
