A KEY funding source for small community projects will cease to exist this month.

Local area forums will close as the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act takes effect.

The forum was often used by community councils and community groups to source funding for initiatives in the local area, such as the installation of park benches and bins.

It also provided an opportunity for community leaders from across East Renfrewshire to meet on a regular basis.

However, new power under the act will allow the community to claim assets from East Renfrewshire Council (ERC), such as community centres, if it can prove it can make better use of the facility than the local authority.

Councillor Kenny Hay, who was chairman of the Neilston, Uplawmoor and Barrhead Area Forum, said: “They outlived their use in the end.

“They became increasingly less useful after the rules were changed regarding what we could give money to.

“It used to be very useful for giving out small amounts of money to things like the Brownies and Scouts or pensioner groups for days out.

“But when it changed and we could only use the money for public realm works its usefulness diminished, and this coupled with the funding available being dramatically reduced saw it live out a natural death."

“Most members agreed that its time was up.

“It was also often a waste of police and fire service resources, they would attend the forum and give exactly the same report that they would later be giving to the community councils for each area anyway.”

The last of the money available to the area forum was this month used to install benches at the Cenotaph in Cowan Park, in front of the council building and in Uplawmoor.

However, while the local area forum was a useful conduit for local people to express their concerns to the council, Cllr Hay believes there is now scope for community councils to step up to the plate.

He added: “The community councils remain a great way for people to raise their concerns about the community and act as a point of contact.

“The community council may also be able to come up with ways to fund smaller projects in a similar fashion to what the local area forums were once able to do.”