Published: Thursday, 18th March, 2010 7:05am

Not so buzz-y any more

by Sam Berkeley

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The Beehive on Quality Street

REGISTRATION services in North Berwick are set to be cut and its office closed to save money, council leader David Berry has confirmed.

Births, marriages and deaths have been recorded at the 'Beehive' on Quality Street (pictured) for at least 25 years but the local authority 's leader has said the base will "probably close" and a reduced department moved to North Berwick Community Centre in a bid to save council cash.

The bulk of registration would be centralised to Haddington and Musselburgh - with a possible 'floating service' operating one day per week in North Berwick - if, as expected, these services are removed from the Beehive.

"I don't believe there's one marriage a month that takes place through the registrar there and we took the view that it was rarely used," Councillor Berry told concerned community councillors in North Berwick last Tuesday.

"I do not question that it is a reduction in facilities but in terms of a priority of facilities, was it high on that list? It was not. The council has a lot of buildings in North Berwick and we have to rationalise."

Questioned by community councillors, Mr Berry said he "did not know" what would become of the building but said that there were "other council buildings in North Berwick that can be used".

Pat Burton, community council chairman, pointed out that the expected Beehive closure had not been highlighted in the public spending consultation paper 'You Pay... Now Have Your Say'.

She branded the move as "very underhand stuff", saying it would "go down like a lead balloon" in North Berwick.

"I don't think that will go down very well especially when we had a consultation where this was never raised," she said. "You consult the public only when it suits you."

Mr Berry said there had been "no intention to deceive" the public and the possible relocation of Beehive registration services was a late suggestion that did not appear in the consultation paper.

"I'm sorry if people are upset," he said. "The public did not come up with that many choices to save money [in the consultation paper].

"People want maximum facilities for minimum investment; I am sorry the world does not work that way.

"At some point we have to look at the cost effiency of staffing in offices like that. You cannot have museums and education on a reduced budget without dropping something."

In a statement, the council admitted that the spending choices consultation paper let residents opt only for "major changes", ie estimated cuts exceeding £100,000.

"Changes to registration services were part of the budget but not part of the consultation," said councillor Berry.

"There were alot of things that didn't appear [in the consultation]."

A council spokesperson stressed that the future of registration services had not yet been decided and a review of the five outlets in the county had begun. Councillor Berry suggested there would be no loss of jobs and Beehive staff would take up other posts throughout the local authority.