Bridgend Farmhouse Public Meeting – June 8th 2010
To all who attended the meeting or expressed an interest in attending but could not make it along,
Many thanks to all of you who beared the elements to come down and have your say on the future developments of Bridgend Farmhouse.
It was a constructive and useful meeting that brought together a lot of positive ideas as well as things to consider and be weary of, and began to form a vision for the use of the space. It was brilliant to have such a variety of people from different backgrounds and interests, and especially that we could meet with the previous owners and see what the farmhouse looked like in working condition 10 years ago.
If you follow these links you can access the minutes of the meeting, and if you want a copy of any other information please email us at the address at the bottom:
Minutes: - http://www.scribd.com/doc/33179852
After group discussion and a very useful and inspiring presentation by David Jenkins from the Liberton Bankhouse Project we looked to identify two determining issues:
Defining what the community need or want is for the space:
A. The use and function of the farmhouse and property.
B. The type of re-development we want on the building, the amount of space required, the type of facilities wanted and the quality of finish and maintenance we are after.
Who can do that and how:
A. Steering group of interested individuals and organisations and official association/trust/charity to direct the process
B. Potential funders or sources of finance and support
Information on what was discussed within these is included in the minutes.
The next stage then is to form a group of interested individuals with different experience to help assess the different criteria and support of the different suggested possibilities against their limitations and financial constraints.
For this we are asking then for:
People that are interested in potentially being part of this group to read through this email and the minutes and let us know in what capacity you would like to assist and be part of a farmhouse regeneration group.
Organisations and funders that have expressed interest to indicate what sorts of developments and projects they would be looking to get involved with and support at a later stage if we were able to clarify a clear function and funding to renovate the building.
A list of people who would like to maintain their support in the re-development of the space but cannot help at this stage – so that we are aware of others thoughts, ideas and potential experience, and the amount of awareness and want there is for this continued effort for a sustainable regeneration of the property.
At this stage it is vital that we ascertain information on the buildings structural status and what costs would be involved in its basic renovation and bringing it back to working order, and what it would be worth to purchase or lease. If anyone knows anybody that can help with this and getting a structural survey done that would be brilliant. We also need to find out exactly what developments could occur on the land and surrounding property. With this information, and alongside other criteria of potential funding and interested organisations we can assess which particular use and function would be most appropriate, realistic and beneficial for the property and for the area.
Anyone who could also help with the financial considerations, the legal proceedings and the secretarial and administrational responsibilities would be much appreciated.
Please email back any ways that you may be able to help or get involved, or if you know anyone that could, and if you would like to attend a meeting to draft a constitution to form a community group or association to try to clarify this vision and proposal and take it forward with other groups. We aim to meet again in mid July at the Inch Community Centre when we have had responses as to peoples interest and availability for attending this.
If you may not be able to help at this stage but would like to receive information on developments then also let us know.
If people want any more information, including; previous information on planning and developing restrictions and other planning proposals, maps of the surrounding area with other local community groups and projects identified, a high level rough costings, information on the Craigmillar Castle Park plan, the national Allotments strategy or parts of the local council structure plan, we can also forward this on.
We very much look forward to hearing back from you,
Will Golding and Sally Swain
Bridgendfarmhse@gmail.com
