Leadhills Community Company (LCC) is exploring the community purchase of the Stable/Garage Block in Leadhills. The building is currently owned by Hopetoun Estates, which has indicated a willingness to sell it to the community. It is leased to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service but not used at the moment due to a suspension of the service, although they allow the community to use part of the building for storage of equipment for events etc.
Community Consultation/ Feasibility Study
LCC has secured funding from the Clyde Wind Farm and is preparing plans to determine whether there is a viable plan for community ownership. We have carried out a community survey to see if there is support for the plan and what people think would make a useful addition to the village. We have also spoken to many of the businesses but are keen to hear further
what might be useful to support existing offers
current visitor numbers to the village
would you like to be further involved and
we welcome any thoughts on what could be done to increase this, potentially encouraging people to stop a while and spend a little more!
If
you/ your organisation has any thoughts or ideas or would simply like
to discuss plans further please contact me directly – Sandra Macaskill,
CaskieCo@aol.com or 07986 163002
The Feasibility Study on the Stable Block/Garage will be presented to the community in a meeting in Leadhills Community Hall on Tuesday 17 December at 7.30 pm.
You are welcome to come along and hear the plans so far.
Please pass on to anyone else you think may have an interest, thank you!
Leadhills Community Company (LCC) is exploring the community
purchase of the Stable Block in Leadhills. The building is currently owned by
the Earl of Hopetoun, who has indicated a willingness to sell it to the
community. It is leased to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service but not used at
the moment due to a suspension of the service, although they allow the
community to use part of the building for storage of equipment for events etc.
Finding out what people would like from the
Stable Block
LCC has secured funding from the Clyde Wind Farm to employ a consultant to draw up plans for how the building could be used by the community to find out if there is local support for such ideas. Sandra Macaskill of Caskieco began work with the us in July 2019 attending the Leadhills Gala Day to begin to talk to people about what they would like to see the stable block used for. A public meeting was held 3rd October in the Hopetoun Arms to enable a wider range of local organisations and individuals to get involved in drawing up plans.
From this meeting, this newsletter has been produced together with a questionnaire to enable everyone in the village to have their say on how the project should progress. Please take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire either electronically via this link or on paper, returning it to the collection box in the village shop.
Other funding news…
LCC hopes to secure some of the funding to buy the Stable
Block, if it is agreed to proceed, from the Scottish Land Fund. A successful
Stage 1 application has been made which means LCC can now have a full survey
done on the building so we understand what condition it is in and what works
are required to make it fit for use. The feasibility study and the survey
results will be reported back to the community once they are complete,
hopefully by the end of November 19. We will produce another Newsletter and
hold a public meeting to share the plans to that point.
What are the ideas so far…
Suggestions so far fall into three categories which is important as any future plans for the Stable Block will need to be sustainable in the longer term, i.e. they will need to cover costs as they operate as a social enterprise. A mix of activities is, therefore, a good idea as income generated by some things can help fund things which are more difficult to make money from but still important to the community.
Community Hub
Commercial
Adventure Activities
Fire and Rescue
Microbrewery/Distillery
Bike and E-bike trails/repair
Information Centre (CAB)
Leadhills Jam Factory
Zipline across the valley
LCC community office
Antique sale cabinets
Outdoor centre base
Employment Outreach
Arts/ Crafts sale cabinets
Fishing
Toilets
Living museum
Shooting
Tourist information
Exhibition space
Walking
Natural Burial site
What do you think? What would you
like to see happening in the Stable Block?
Maybe you are a local artist or maker
looking for studio space?
Would Leadhills like to have a
reader, writer, artist in residence? Build links and access to the acclaimed
Miner’s Library?
Could there be pop-up activities in the stables? What does Leadhills need? PLEASE TELL US, so it can be included in the feasibility study, nothing is too off the wall!
A meeting has been held with Hopetoun Estates “Leadhills Trust” to discuss aspects of the buy-out. The main objective was to find out if the trust and LCC could agree to any assets that LCC would be able to take ownership of. For notes of the meeting, provided by Donald Noble click here.
