 At the time, any loans that a council wanted to raise were subject to public approval and a public meeting was held in August 1886 to discuss raising a £3,000 loan.The meeting was chaired by the mayor, Adam Chalmers, and the main speaker was Harry Allwright, a borough councillor and the local member of parliament.The issue was put to public vote as part of the borough councillor elections on 9 September 1886, where 442 electors supported the loan, with 26 against and 5 informal votes.