Ayr pets group slam council

Dec 26 2008

YOU can’t trust South Ayrshire Council.

That’s what the people trying to save Pets’ Corner are saying.

And they claim the council has weaseled out of two key pledges.

* No extra land for a pets’ education centre.

* No guarantee of cash help towards running costs.

“Basically, they’re taking away the ground, and taking away the money,” said Agnes Steven of the Friends of Pets’ Corner group.

“I’m afraid we’re dealing with a council we can’t trust.

“They’ve dealt with this most unprofessionally.”

Mrs Steven says she has seen council correspondence which indicates a plan for nearby homes.

A council official states this will be on the nursery site right next to Pets’ Corner.

Another friend of Pets’ Corner, Henry Pimentel, spelled out how they have raised £35,000 in cash.

And they have pledges ‘in kind’ amounting to £160,000.

One of the council’s reasons for pulling the plug on Pets’ Corner was an estimated £100,000 refurbishment cost.

But the friends’ group have solved this problem with nine months’ of hard work and fundraising.

However, an estimated £42,000 a year running costs is needed to keep Pets’ Corner open.

“We now have charitable status, and we’re a limited company,” said Henry Pimentel.

“We have made many grant applications, but we are relying on the council’s help to get us through the first year.

“And it puts a lot of pressure on just six of us who are on the committee of Friends of Pets’ Corner.

“We have to guarantee that £42,000 every year.”

Mr Pimintel made another appeal for more people to come on board and make sure Pets’ Corner is saved.

He pledged to keep fighting to save it. And he said the planned pets’ educational centre, aimed at attracting schools, could go elsewehere on the site.

In a statement to the Post last week, top official Graham Peterkin insisted the council remains committted to working with the friends’ group.

And he said there are no other development proposals ‘at the moment’ for Belleisle Estate.