MONTROSE Community Council are to renew their efforts to get back into the Town House nearly three years after they were kicked out by Angus Council.
The group have been forced to hold their meetings in the registrar's office in John Street since October 2006, when revised fire regulations meant any public body that met there had to find a new home.
The main sticking point, from Angus Counci
l's point of view, was how any disabled persons should be evacuated from the first floor meeting room in the event of a fire.
The revised regulations mean that, should a fire break out, the hosting group will be charged with evacuating everyone safely down the stairs, as the lift cuts out when the alarm is raised.
It had looked like Montrose Community Council had claimed victory in their battle to move back to the former home of the Town Council in 2007, when fire safety officers and Angus Council chiefs admitted that public gatherings in the meeting room could be possible.
The community council then formally requested a copy of the health and safety procedures with a view to moving back in, but the local authority failed to send anything out.
The request was repeated in October last year, but again, no response has been forthcoming.
Members said they felt they have been stonewalled by the authority and called for the situation to be resolved as quickly as possible.
Member Bill Gibson said: "This has become a very bad joke. It's been going on for years and there has been stonewalling."
Terry Wood said: "We've been out of there for a long time and they've never provided us with the documentation that allows the council to use it themselves.
"It was agreed that if there is a disabled person at a meeting, we would carry them down the stairs in the event of a fire, just as Angus Council would.
"That's where we should meet."
Member John Dempster said there appeared to be a discrepancy between what was allowed for the local authority and for the community council.
He said: "Angus Council still use it for junkets, so if they can get 40-50 people in there, there must be a plan!"
The community council are to request a meeting with Angus Council's chief executive David Sawers, neighbourhood services director Ron Ashton and a fire safety officer to negotiate a return to the Town House.
