Cumbernauld cinema site has warehouse role now

Tenants in adjacent premises could not believe their eyes when lorryloads of goods including mattresses and whiteboards were loaded into the former Mackays premises.

They had been led to believe that the units would not be used in this way but the facts proved otherwise as the sheer scale of deliveries continued apace.

We can confirm however that these units too have finally been handed over to a controversial charity who hit headlines in this newspaper last month

North Lanarkshire Council has confirmed that it has permitted Scotia Aid to use this no-go area to store furniture for offices and schools which bore the brunt of the Ebola crisis.

As we reported, the charity had been accused of trying to skim cash from local authorities across the Central Belt and the council’s own staff became suspicious amidst claims that Scotia Aid was dodging costs at the expense of council tax payers.

NLC officers announced their intention to visit the units in Cumbernauld to ensure the set-up was on the level and the charity was forced to admit that the units were in fact empty.

However, that is no longer the case, given the development area an unexpected new status.

A council spokesperson confirmed: “We have received applications for mandatory and discretionary relief from Scotia Aid for properties in Cumbernauld Centre. We also have confirmation from the owners that each property in question have been leased to Scotia Aid.

“We would expect to award charity relief against each property where we are able to confirm that the property is occupied by the charity.’

The News tried to contact both Scotia Aid then property agent Belgate which is supposed to market this area.

Neither had returned our calls at time of going to press.