Dumfries and Galloway Councillors to choose Town Board chair

The chairperson of the Town Board, which will deliver a long term plan to spend £20million in Levelling Up funding, will be selected on Tuesday

Author: Paul KellyPublished 26th Feb 2024

The chair of the Dumfries Town Board, which will deliver a long term plan to spend £20million in levelling up funding in the town over the next decade, will be decided at a council meeting on Tuesday.

The independent position will be taken on by a local community leader or businessperson, respected in the place and in a position to be able to convene partners to form the Board.

The Long-Term Plan they will develop must include a 10-year vision, and an initial 3-year investment plan.

The UK Government has set out the expectation that the Town Board will have held its first meeting by April 1st, and that the Long-Term Plan for Dumfries will be submitted by August 1st.

The nominations for Town Board chair are:

• Robin Wishart, Chair of the Dumfries Partnership Action Group (DPAG) and Loreburn Community Council.

• Gwilym Gibbons, Chief Executive of The Crichton Trust.

• D. J. McDowell, Local freelance Community Development Consultant and Cultural Producer

• Alexander Campbell, Communications Team Lead at NHS Dumfries and Galloway and Army Reserves national and local civil resilience and emergency response

• Mark Jardine, Dumfries People’s Project

• Sitki Nalci, Chief Executive of Dumfries & Galloway Multicultural Association

• Eric Craig, Vice Chair of DPAG

• Jennifer Challinor, Head of Research and Development, The Crichton Trust

• Ritchie Nicoll, Local businessowner and employer

The Board will comprise of: local MPs with local MSPs at the invitation of the Council, two local councillors and a senior police representative.

Other membership is at the Chair’s discretion but might comprise: community partners, local businesses and social enterprises, cultural, arts, heritage and sporting organisations and public agencies and anchor institutions.

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