Action Kintore

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ACTION KINTORE PROGRESS

At just over seven months on from the packed public meeting on March 9th our small but dedicated team of local people is working hard to make the community wish-list more of a reality.

Aberdeenshire Council’s Community Learning team ran an excellent ‘Day for Youth’ which provided taster sessions for a range of activities and provided the launch pad for the Kintore Youth Forum. The Youth Forum is firmly behind the proposal to set up a local Youth Café as soon as possible and has already planned a series of fundraising events and activities to support the project.

Action Kintore and the Community Council lobbied Aberdeenshire Council hard for the former Library site to become the site for a community youth facility and to the Council’s credit, they have recently agreed to support that. It is now all systems go to identify suitable premises and seek Planning Permission to have them located there.

Through the Community Council, Action Kintore has already successfully applied for £1000 to help start up community projects and is investigating other funding sources. The local Rotary Club is making a donation and Garioch Community Planning Group has also agreed to provide financial support.

However, in-kind support is just as important as hard cash, if not more so. Thanks to the meeting in March, we are not short of ideas but without more helpers from the local community, it will not be possible to deliver the activities that were identified as wanted in Kintore.

Some helpers have already signed up to run youth events, such as the ‘UTalk’ drop-in sessions whilst others have applied to become volunteer mini-bus drivers. Once they pass the test they will be able to provide transport for groups of young people to attend events outwith Kintore.

Much more is planned but the biggest need now is person power. We are not talking here of Committee membership, but simply a willingness to invest some of your time to support your community, so please do get in touch. Volunteers with funding expertise will be especially welcome.

www.kintore.org.uk

ACTION KINTORE SETS SIGHTS ON YOUTH CAFE

At the Kintore Community Council meeting on Wednesday, June 13, council members agreed to support the concept of a Youth Cafe, in addition to a carpark (which was their original preferred option) on the site previously occupied by the Library.

Somewhere to 'hang out' with friends was one of the main requests in a survey of Kintore youngsters conducted by the community council and it also cropped up as one of the main themes at the following Action Kintore public meeting. The Action Kintore sub-group had previously heard about options ranging from "youth shelters" (which were described as being similar to bus shelters) through to portable buildings.

The portable building option was seen as best with the former library site being the possible location.

"The only caveat was that, whilst supporting the Youth Cafe and Car park option, they feel there should be a survey of the site carried out, to fully ascertain if there could be better use made of it, for the benefit of Kintore," explains Kenny Thomson, of the Action Kintore sub group.

This view will be now conveyed to Aberdeenshire Council's area manager.

"This support of the Youth Cafe by the Community Council is a major step forward, in terms of trying to assist our young people to acquire youth facilities," Kenny continues. "It is hoped that Kintore Youth Forum will receive positive direction from Aberdeenshire Council and decide to proceed with a Temporary Planning Application."

The suggestion was that the café could be located in a portable building and, immediately following the meeting there was word that a possible suitable building had been found, along with the transport to put it on site. However, there are a considerable number of hurdles still to be overcome relating to planning approval, drainage and power connections and staffing.

"All in all, things are getting exciting," Kenny concluded.

GOOD TURNOUT FOR ACTION KINTORE MEETING

Although a Public Meeting is not usually top of the list of Friday night entertainments, a meeting called by Action Kintore, on behalf of the Community Council, attracted nearly 200 Kintore residents to the hall in the Community School last week (March 9th). Young residents made up almost a quarter of the audience, and they were eager to share their views on the facilities and recreational activities they would like to have in the town.

Guest speakers at the meeting included Grampian Police Inspector Dave Allan and Kintore Community Police Office, Nicola Stewart. They were joined by Bruce Robertson, Director of Education and Recreation for Aberdeenshire Council, Ian Fowell, the Council’s Garioch Area Manager and members of the local Community Learning team.

One immediate outcome of the meeting is a fact-finding session, organised by Community by Learning, for younger residents at the Scout Hut on Sunday 18 March at 7pm. This is a workshop to generate ideas for new recreational facilities, where they would best be sited and how to carry the ideas forward. All interested Kintore young people aged 12 years and over are invited to attend.

At the start of the meeting everyone who attended was invited to record their views on Kintore, both good and bad, and to suggest improvements. The comments were collected at the meeting and will be made available on the local website at: www.kintore.org.uk

More than 50 members of the audience signed up to assist in the process of supporting young people in Kintore. Volunteers are still equired however, particularly those with a background in Health and Safety, Risk Assessments and skills in the preparation of Business Plans. Anyone who is able to help out should contact Kenny Thomson on 0783 5631341.

Speaking after the meeting, Community Council chairman Iain Blair thanked everyone for taking the time to attend. The meeting represented a ‘wake up’ call to Kintore residents, to address the needs and challenges of a community which has grown from village to small town size within the space of a few short years. The organisers are under no illusions as to the challenges ahead, but feel that a good and positive start has been made in getting everyone together to address the related issues of lack of recreational facilities and outbreaks of antisocial behaviour.