About Us

What do we do?

There are over 60 community councils in the Scottish Borders. They represent their local areas, dealing with public sector organisations like Scottish Borders Council (SBC), NHS Borders and the Scottish Government, and utility companies such as ScottishPower, Scottish Water and BT.

Abbey St Bathans, Bonkyl and Preston Community Council (ABPCC) meet regularly to discuss matters such as:

  • Planning applications (go to the Contact us page to give us your comments on local planning matters)
  • Public consultations
  • Local services
  • Issues raised by groups and individuals in our area

They also:

  • Award small grants to local projects from the Crystal Rig II Wind Farm Community Fund which are received directly on behalf of the community

See the Funding page to find out more about wind farm funding and applying for grants and a copy of the ABPCC Constitution can be found here.

Activities

Over the last year, ABPCC has engaged with the Scottish Borders Council about speed restrictions on local roads, street lighting, road repairs and road markings, hedge cutting and signs, dog fouling and graffiti. We have contributed to consultations and provided comment on planning applications on behalf of residents. Negotiations with wind farms and distribution of the community funds from the Crystal Rig II Wind Farm are part of ABPCC business. There are many other concerns covered by ABPCC, but we try to complete our meetings within two hours, usually on the evening of the fourth Thursday, every two months.

ABPCC has also been actively involved in planning and delivering community events such as the Queens Jubilee and Kings Coronation celebrations and the 2023 Winter Fuel Payment scheme.

You will find our minutes on this website where you can read much more about the matters discussed in our meetings, and other ABPCC activities.

ABPCC Crest

We are very proud of our logo which was designed by Valerie Marchand, then aged 11 years, who won a competition run by ABPCC with the local primary school. It represents all three of our communities, the fish is the Whiteadder link, the hall shows the communities, and the kirk indicates the original Priory at Abbey St Bathans and the various historical church links, plus the present church links.