THE BORDERLANDS ASK

The Town Team had made broad brush estimates of the cost of the town’s priorities. We had no expert knowledge informing this. We reckon the town needs around £13 million. And this figure doesn’t even take into account the significant issue of remediation of the East Pier.

We’re aware that the Borderlands pot is less that £15 million, with 5 towns bidding into it. As the second largest town in the region, with significant issues of deprivation (according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation), we believe a bid of £5 million is reasonable. We are also looking to Scottish Government to finally release the promised £6 million - index linked and will ask Dumfries & Galloway Council and South of Scotland Enterprise to confirm the status of the £2 million each earmarked in a 2018 report, as well as the £100,000 Dumfries & Galloway Council promised for the Dick’s Hill Community Hub replacement.

In order to get ‘the ask’ down to £5 million, we identified priority projects that matched local people’s needs. We are taking this Place Plan back out to the public to rank these priorities using Citizen Space platform on the Place Plan website: www.creatingstranraer.co.uk.

See our £5 million ‘ask’ overleaf.

Ready For Change

Throughout the engagement process, we emphasised to local people that arriving at a Place Plan is not the end; it’s a new beginning. The process has been a catalyst for change: permission to partner and work more collaboratively. Many of the priority issues identified by locals are complex. It will take ongoing partnership working and co-designing change with local people to achieve meaningful and lasting change.

We are taking the final draft of the Place Plan back to the public, to neighbouring Community Councils and to Councillors for a formal 28 day consultation to align with Local Planning needs so that the Place Plan can be adopted as an official record of local need and aspiration and considered when future plans are being made.

We will use Citizen Space - our new Local Democracy voting platform on our community website, www.creatingstranraer.co.uk - to continue and build on engagement, ensure long term community ownership and build citizenship, shaping the town’s future together.

We’re excited about the town’s potential. We’re ready and able for change.