RESIDENTS in the Deanfield area of Bo’ness have called for better play facilities at Kinneil Estate and Foreshore.
They gave their comments as part of a major survey conducted by The Friends of Kinneil, with support from the Growing Communities Fund.
The full results of the survey will be revealed at a public meeting in St. Mary’s Church Hall, Bo’ness, on Tuesday, March 20. The event will start at 7.30 p.m.
There will also be a talk from historian Geoff Bailey and some light refreshments.
If you can’t attend, click here to read the report – or click on the report cover on the right.
(Please note that this is a high-resolution file, stored in Adobe Acrobat /PDF format. It may take a few minutes to download over a slow internet connection. If you are having problems downloading or accessing this file, please email: info@kinneil.org.uk.)
Maria Ford, the chair of The Friends of Kinneil, said: “Last year, The Friends of Kinneil was lucky enough to be awarded more than £4000 to conduct a community consultation exercise. We focused on the Deanfield area of Bo’ness and asked residents about two neighbouring parks – at Kinneil Estate and Kinneil Foreshore. We carried out door-to-door surveys, drop-in sessions at Kinneil Bowling Club and the Old Kirk, and also events at Kinneil Primary and St. Mary’s Primary School.
“Through the community consultation exercise, we established that people wanted to see better play facilities. The doorstep surveys also flagged up strong support for investment in Kinneil House and Museum – and perhaps the establishment of a coffee/gift shop within the Estate. The full results will be listed in our report.”
Funding allowed the charity to employ a project worker, Graeme Kane. Volunteers from the group also helped collect information.
Mrs Ford said: “All the feedback given will be passed to Falkirk Council, Falkirk Community Trust and our partners at Historic Scotland. We hope it will lead to even more improvements to Kinneil in the years ahead (and hopefully much needed investment for the Kinneil area).”
She added: “As well as giving locals the chance to have their say, we’re confident the exercise has also massively increased the profile of The Friends of Kinneil, our activities – and the parks themselves. For instance, our website (www.kinneil.org.uk ) – promoted during the consultation – had around 17,500 visits in 2011, up around 43 per cent on the previous year. Open days at Kinneil House – also promoted during the consultation – were also busier. A total of 2025 people toured inside the mansion last year, compared to 1622 visitors in 2010 – an increase of nearly 25 per cent. Plus our Facebook page (www.fb.com/kinneil) saw increased number of ‘likes’.”
Funding for the consultation project was secured through the Growing Communities Fund, a small grants programme aimed at helping local groups and people in regeneration areas to become more involved in their communities.
“The fund helps residents influence local services and improve their local areas,” said Mrs Ford. “The fund is managed locally by CVS Falkirk and District – using cash from the Scottish Government’s Fairer Scotland Fund. We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part.
“I hope local people will attend the feedback event and talk on March 20 – or log onto http://www.kinneil.org.uk/deanfield to read the final report.”
WATCH THE FILM
ARCHIVE MATERIAL
Previous news stories on this website:
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Join us for free history talk (March 18, 2012)
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Read Kinneil News online (March 16, 2012)
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Kinneil chair looks back on successful year (January 4, 2012)
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Graeme appointed to lead consultation project (August 16, 2011)
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Search for local views (July 15, 2011)
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Job: Come and work with us! (July 14, 2011)
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Give us your views (June 1, 2011)
READ THE PROJECT NEWSLETTERS
Copies of both newsletters were distributed by volunteers to homes in the Deanfield area, and also handed out at local outlets.
If you have any enquiries about this project, please contact Maria Ford, chair, The Friends of Kinneil, on 01506 510629 or email: info@kinneil.org.uk
Kinneil 