Emerging priorities for Kirkfieldbank Community Action Plan - have your say!

Over the last few months, residents in Kirkfieldbank have been sharing their thoughts and ideas for the future of their community to develop a Five-Year Community-led Action Plan.

Through interviews, surveys and comments on a new local website www.kirkfieldbank.com, local people have said their priorities are to address traffic issues, develop an indoor place to meet and socialise, improve facilities at the top of the village and maintain paths. Some of the most interesting proposals so far are to turn the pub or pavilion into a Community Hub / cafe, develop new signage and information boards that highlight walking routes, and points of local and historical interests, and develop a community garden at the top of the village. 

The first draft of the action plan with the early themes and priorities is available at www.kirkfieldbank.com/news for public comment. The final plan, which is expected to be launched in September, will be used by businesses, local groups, organisations and community members to initiate new projects, unite people around shared goals, bring in funding, and highlight local priorities to the council and politicians. The process is led by a local Steering Group and funded by South Lanarkshire LEADER, supported by the Rural Development Trust’s Community Action Lanarkshire project with assistance from consultants icecream architecture.

Chris Strachan from icecream architecture, said, “So far over 100 people have provided some great thoughts and ideas to help develop the plan. If you haven’t yet had your say or want to say more, please visit www.kirkfieldbank.com, connect up via the Kirkfieldbank Community Group Facebook page or contact me on chris@icecreamarchitecture.com or Community Action Lanarkshire on 07980564773 / kirsten.robb@ruraldevtrust.com.”

The next step in the action planning process is to keep talking to residents to get a clear understanding of what actions are needed to address local priorities. This will include a new survey, now available on the website www.kirkfieldbank.com/future asking citizens of Kirkfieldbank how they want to improve their village: How can we improve parking and traffic conditions in Kirkfieldbank? How can we reopen and better utilise the local pub? How can we brighten up the village and its buildings, keeping the streets, pavements, railings, and hedges tidy and well maintained?”

Susan Hamilton from the Kirkfieldbank Steering Group said, “Despite lockdown, the people of Kirkfieldbank have shared some great ideas and raised some important concerns, such as the issue of parking, the lack of a public toilet, and need for a well functioning and easy to use community space. We need everyone in the community to give their ideas about what changes are needed and how we will do them - the more people who get involved, the better Kirkfieldbank will be.”

Image credits:  Community Action Lanarkshire