The Review Issue 15 - Summer 2017 | Page 19

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COMMUNITY SPIRIT AND FACILITIES

Improving sport and leisure facilities , especially for young people ; funding for community events and projects ; and promoting the heritage and history of Stewarton .

NEXT STEPS

THE COMMUNITY LED ACTION PLAN – PROGRESS SO FAR

The Stewarton Community Led Action Plan was launched at a Public Event in the Area Centre on 24th August 2016 . How are we getting on , nearly one year later ?

The Informal Steering Group formed to create and launch the Plan has been organising the work to progress the 5 Action Themes . These are :

COMMUNITY SAFETY

Initiatives to re-instate the Police Office ; increase the Police presence in the town ; and target all the drug , and alcohol ‘ hotspots ’.

TOWN APPEARANCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Plans to tackle dog fouling and litter ; provide play parks ; improve landscaping ; and develop the Town centre .

HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Addressing all the public services ( including the medical centre ) impacted by the scope of housing developments ; and the provision of shops and other town centre services .

ROADS TRAFFIC AND PARKING

Developing and improving pedestrian and cycle paths ; improving traffic management ; and investigating parking arrangements .

The working groups formed to progress these Themes have identified short term , medium and long term objectives and targets . These include :

• Community Safety : identification of all the local hot-spots that feature anti-social behaviour

• Town Appearance : cleaning up and developing the Stewarton Cross area

• Roads , Traffic and Parking : signage for walking and cycling

• Community Spirit : creating a directory of local community groups

Meanwhile , it has been decided that all this work would be best progressed by the formation of the ‘ Stewarton Community Trust ’, which will be a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation ( SCIO ). It is intended that this Trust will seek the improvement of the built and natural environments , commercial and business opportunities and the social , educational and leisure facilities of Stewarton – all of which are included in the Action Plan . This work will be progressed by means of :

• Consultations with the residents of Stewarton

• Making representations to local and public bodies

• Advancing community developments

• Facilitating the provision of recreational facilities and activities

• Promoting benefits for the Stewarton community

Further information on the Stewarton Community Trust is available from the Steering Group Members listed in the Action Plan .

The first direct benefit of the Action Plan was the ‘ Stewarton Supports ’ initiative , which brought financial benefit to a number of local community groups during March . This offered grants of up to £ 1000 for proposed projects that were linked closely with the priorities set out in the Action Plan , and would be of direct benefit to Stewarton . Applications closed on the 15th February , at which time 14 projects were found to be eligible for consideration at a public event in the Stewarton Annick Centre on Saturday 4th March . The 491 people attending this event ( a record attendance for such events in East Ayrshire ) voted for a wide range of diverse projects including the documentation of local history ; childrens ’ events ; landscaping and path repairs ; the purchase of sports equipment ; and online computer services . As a consequence £ 10,000 was divided between the 12 successful community groups , and the spending of this money will now be monitored by the Stewarton Community Trust .

The Community Action Plan will only succeed if additional people come forward to take an interest in progressing one or more of the Action Themes .

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