Community Council

Floors, Makerstoun, Nenthorn and Smailholm (FMNS) Community Council covers this area of the Borders.  Not everyone understands what the Community Council does, so we hope the information below will help, and perhaps encourage you to get involved.

The Community Council acts as a channel between local people and Scottish Borders Council (SBC). One or two of the local SBC councillors usually attends our meetings,  bring information and take away problems we want raised.

We are also consulted by SBC directly on such things as planning, and by other public sector bodies such as NHS Borders, Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government has plans to increase the role of community councils.

The Community Council has a small annual budget mainly for its running costs but can make small grants to local groups where appropriate. SBC also have budgets for small schemes for improving local environments with things like roadside benches, noticeboards, step and path repairs, etc. Access to these funds is through the Community Council.

If you're interested and want to find out more, come to a Council meeting! Members of the public are very welcome to attend. These are usually held in Makerstoun or Smailholm Village Halls about every three months, although currently they are being held on Zoom. Minutes of meetings and agendas with dates and locations are displayed on the local noticeboards. This website will contain details of forthcoming meetings, and will also provide access to agendas, minutes and other information, such as the community police report.

From November 2021, members of the Community Council are:

Gemma Butterfied, Floors - Minutes Secretary

Andrew Carter, Makerstoun - Chair

Nicholas Biddulph, Makerstoun

Ian Topping, Nenthorn

David Stark, Nenthorn

Heather Kerr, Nenthorn

Tony Kime, Nenthorn - Secretary

Ian Malcolm, Smailholm

Jane Roberts, Smailholm

Veronica Ross, Smailholm - Vice-chair

The Treasurer is Philip Green, who is not a community council member

For further information email (fmnscc@gmail.com)

The Community Council leaflet was delivered to all households in the area in early 2017. This is also available through the link below, but we hope to update is soon.

Agendas for all meetings will be available shortly before the meeting.  The next meeting of the Community Council will be Tuesday, 4th October, 7.00 pm., in Smailholm Village Hall, and also via Zoom. 

Accidents on the double bend at the west end of Smailholm

The community council want to keep a record of all the accidents that happen at the double bend at the west end of Smailholm, so that we can convince the council that we need some kind of better warning. Many of the accidents don't get reported if there are no serious injuries and the police aren't called, so the figures the council have are much lower than the reality. So if you see any, can you let either Jane Roberts, Veronica Ross, or Ian Malcolm know.