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The AGM took place in March and it was good to see so many people there, when there were so many other attractions on at the same time. A big thank you to those who came along and supported us. The lead up to the AGM added many new members, so welcome to you all – it is fantastic to have your support and interest.
At the AGM we made some changes to the constitution including lowering the age to 16 for full members, and allowing LCDT to become a charity should the need arise, as sometimes this gives us access to certain sources of funding that would otherwise be closed to us.
However the part that attracted the most interest was the presentations on the various projects. This began with an overview of the proposals for Kettilstoun. Karen Fleming and Jim Gilfeather gave an account of what is currently being envisaged and answered questions and took comments on board. There are more details about this project later in the newsletter. This was followed by a brief account of further projects such as the proposed Play Park, a potential Community Hub in the town and Neil Barnes gave a brief account on energy proposals for Linlithgow. I also added that there had been a number of comments on Facebook about the possibility of a Skateboard Park in Linlithgow and it was agreed LCDT would look at this idea.
We did say goodbye to a number of Directors and I would like to say thank you to them for all their support. We also welcomed two new Directors, Cameron Wright and Jonathan Molloy. I can also welcome Pamela Calabrese, who has offered to take minutes for the Board meetings and future AGMs, and Helen Hassall who has agreed to take over as the Newsletter and Membership Secretary.
Everyone present was encouraged to sign up to working groups if they were interested and as a result we had many offers of help for the working groups themselves. All volunteers will be contacted, if not already done so, but it does take time to set things up so please bear with me if I have not been in touch. Breaking down all the tasks we undertake into smaller ‘chunks’ does help reduce the load on every individual but also increases Community involvement. That is, after all, what the Trust is for – owned and managed by the Community, for the Community, involving everyone and creating more community spirit.
We always welcome more offers of support. If you would like get involved in the work of the trust please email hello@trust-linlithgow.org.uk.
Gill Fawcitt
Chair
LCDT
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KETTILSTOUN NEWS
The team has been very busy working on the Kettilstoun project since our last newsletter.
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Transferring to community ownership
We have applied to have the site transferred from West Lothian Council over to the Trust through WLC's asset transfer process and will find out if we are able to proceed to the final stage of the application process by the end of May. If successful this would mean the site would be in community ownership and able to be utilised in the best possible way to meet community sporting and leisure needs.
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Planning ahead
We have also submitted a pre-planning application for our provisional plan. A public exhibition was held on 26 April as part of consultation process. Some of the residents adjacent to the site attended and we discussed how they may or may not be affected and started to explore possible mitigation steps. The pre-planning process from submission to notification, if approved to progress to full planning application, is 12 weeks. We expect to hear if we are successful and able to proceed next month.
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Building our business case
We are delighted to announce we have engaged PMR Leisure to carry out a feasibility study for us. PMR Leisure are a community sports and leisure consultancy who work in partnership with community members to help bring projects from vision to reality. PMR Leisure are well known in West Lothian communities having worked on projects in Broxburn, Whitburn, Stoneyburn, Beecraigs, Bathgate, Fauldhouse, Livingston and Linlithgow in the past. They will be working over the next 8 weeks to build a robust case of evidence for the local need and demand for this sporting facility, which will greatly assist in funding requests. PMR will also identify any sustainability challenges we might face and establish partner support at a local and national level. Finally, they will help us refine the site option layouts and early sketch designs for the required facilities.
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A very early plan
A draft plan for the Kettilstoun site has been developed to enable the asset transfer process and pre planning application. This can be viewed on the website at http://trust-linlithgow.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Kettilstoun-revised-01_14.pdf. This is only a very early draft and so nothing is set in stone at this stage. There will be an opportunity to provide comments and feedback on this as part of the feasibility study being undertaken by PMR Leisure. If you have any feedback please get in touch. |
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MEMBERSHIP
More members needed!
To enable us to complete all these projects we need to attract more members to LCDT to increase the chances of success with funding applications. We have set a short term target of 1400 members. Please spread the word with family and friends and ask them to join. As you know it is free and you can now join online at www.trust-linlithgow.org.uk/?page_id=22 it only take a few minutes! There are also paper membership forms in the library.
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QUEEN'S BATON RELAY 15th JUNE
Come and meet us!
LCDT board member Cameron Wright will be one of the batonbearers when the Queen's Baton Relay passes through Linlithgow on Sunday 15th June. Between 11.30am and 2pm there will be live music, sporting activities, catering and various community stalls at Linlithgow Peel. LCDT will have one of the stalls so please come along and visit us to find out more about what we do and the projects we are working on within the community.
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