Culbokie Community Trust to hold public consultation over plans for new village green and communal hub; event comes at Tulloch Homes prepares to begin work on new housing which will open up site
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EFFORTS to create a communal hub in a Black Isle village will take a big step forward when a public consultation is held next week.
Culbokie Community Trust will hold the event at Findon Hall on Thursday from 3.30pm to 8pm – and is eager to hear local views on the plans for the hub.
The consultation event comes just months before Tulloch Homes begins construction work on a site at Culbokie that will ultimately unlock land for a village green and community hub.
Billy McKay, Tulloch Homes’ construction director, met Trust chair Richard Fyfe and board director Penny Edwards on the Glascairn site to discuss plans.
“We will be widening Glascairn Road as we prepare to build a mix of 25 two and three bedroom bungalows on land adjacent to the village shop”, said Mr McKay.
“We will be creating a village green as part of our infrastructure strategy. In addition, we’ll be building eight affordable homes for Cairn Housing.
“It’s something that works for everybody as we’ll be enabling the Trust to access their land and take forward their own proposals.”
Richard Fyfe commented: “We’re working with a landscape architect to build on the design work done by Tulloch on the village green.
“We envisage that it will include a children’s natural play area, community orchard and herb garden and we’ll be looking for volunteer involvement.
“A later phase of the community development will feature a café which we hope will also be a hub for multi-purpose community activities, plus a toilet.
“A further development is likely to focus on 100 square metres of flexible space, which could include business rentals or community craft.”
Penny Edwards said:”All our plans will be outlined at a community consultation event at Findon Hall. The input of local people is crucial to delivering something of value to our village.”
Planning consent has already been received for the housing development with Tulloch Homes attracting a strong volume of early enquiries. Culbokie’s population has risen in recent years to 1000.
The Culbokie Community Trust acquired their land in 2015 under the Community Right To Buy scheme, but access created by Tulloch is essential to the Trust maximising the site’s potential.
