The plans in germination....and next steps

Hi folks,

Thanks to everyone that participated in the Options event on Saturday 7th September, including those that came, and those that could not make it but sent apologies and suggestions to the questionnaire.

Around 35 people came along, with new members joining us too. BIG and Sandra Macaskill, our consultant, gave presentations, and then we presented the current architectural drawings. Following that there was a Q& A and then discussion and adding of ideas and comments. It was very positive and encouraging, and there was a general consensus over the way forward and next steps. We were also lucky enough to have Harry and Doris Darling, the previous farm-owners, participating in the event.

Also, many thanks to Jane Mather who led a Storytelling in Nature workshop for the children that came, and later made some willow leaves for her exhibition, Away with the Fairies, some of which will be on display at the Storytelling Centre as part of Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival

Over the past few months we have now spoken with a wide range of organisations, members and local residents, and there is a majority in favour of Option 2, as proposed in the consultation questionnaire. We did however incorporate the views of those that supported or suggested Option 1 and 3 in the best ways we could.

At the event we also discussed many of the important details to consider (i.e. finance, ownership, market, next steps, design), and noted comments. These were taken by our consultant, Sandra Macaskill, and all feedback and comments have been included in the final Options report attached here, which builds on all of the consultation to offer a summary of the preferred way forward by all. There are also pictures from the event included in this report here.

We also now have completed architectural drawings and structural engineering work completed by Malcolm Fraser Architects, and adapted following comments on the 7^th. This can be viewed here.

Our next steps are to do a detailed feasibility and business plan into this option, speaking in more detail with key stakeholders and groups. We will have this to present and distribute by mid November.

We will be meeting between then too as a committee. If you would like to come along to this meeting and assist or offer any ideas or advice that would be great.

Also, if you are from an organisation that would like to speak with us in more detail please let us know

We appreciate any other ways of getting involved and offering support.

We will keep you updated as things progress, and will be sharing final results of this whole study and our next steps forwards in a couple of months time

Onwards....

BIG Committee