Muir activists call on locals to have their say
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VILLAGERS in a Ross-shire community are being urged to have their say this weekend over the future of the place they live.
As previously reported in the Ross-shire Journal, questionnaires have been hand-delivered to residents of Muir of Ord who are being challenged to "paint the big picture".
Today (Friday) and on Saturday this week, drop-in sessions at the village hall offer locals the chance to find out more and put their own views forward.
Muir of Ord Community Association chairman Brian Thom has been encouraged by the initial response to a drop of around 1.800 questionnaires put through letterboxes.
He said: “Several people have commented that they are grateful for someone trying to take things forward. There has also been comment about the positives of the work done to the village square and of the Co-op coming to the village.
“There have been negatives - but these were glossed over by most - hopefully looking at the opportunities and not at the history. The biggest comments unfortunately were about the visual impact of the empty buildings in the village centre.”
The aim of the major consultation project — aptly called The Big Picture — is to reinject community spirit into a village which has witnessed steady growth over the past decade.
The goals for the drop-in events, organised jointly by the local community association and community council, are:
To stimulate discussion about the needs of the village;
To inform about what already exists;
To encourage participation in the community.
Mr Thom earlier told the Journal: "The Muir has been struggling for many years to get everyone working together towards one goal.
"There have been consultations in the past, but with the village hall about to be taken over by the community and more houses being built in the village, we felt it was the right time to conduct another one.
"Hopefully, we will be able to form an action plan at the end of the consultation which will outline what needs to be done."
Frances MacGruer, chairwoman of Muir of Ord Community Council, said: "I think we have to take things into our own hands and see what we can do for ourselves. Even getting the community spirit back into the village again would be a good thing with everyone pulling together."
Apart from the village hall being transferred to community ownership, other changes in the pipeline include plans to develop Old Tarradale School as a cafe and heritage centre, a feasibility study into a multi-use games area and the development of old and new paths.
Funding towards the event from Scottish Community Foundation has enabled the Community Association to involve consultants from the Development Trust Association Scotland to assist with the planning of the consultation.
The drop-ins are being held in the Muir of Ord Village Hall on Friday, April 27 – 5pm to 8pm, and Saturday, April 28 – noon to 4pm.
