A community participation exercise

carried out on behalf of Kirknewton Community

Development Trust

Scottish Land Fund: To determine support for community land purchase

Hilton Associates December – January 2015

This project was supported by:

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Contents Kirknewton – an introduction ...................................................................................... 4 About Kirknewton Community Development Trust: .................................................... 5

Seeking local knowledge ........................................................................................ 5 Aim of the work ....................................................................................................... 6 Scottish Land Fund Project Question ..................................................................... 6 What the KCDT board said about the project: ........................................................ 6 Why participatory appraisal? .................................................................................. 6

How it was done......................................................................................................... 7 Who participated?................................................................................................... 7 Gathering the information: .................................................................................... 10 What people where asked: ................................................................................... 10 Organising the information.................................................................................... 10 Feeding back the information to the community ................................................... 11

What the community said about the project ............................................................. 11 What people said: Do you think there is a need for this project? .......................... 12 What people said: Do you support the project? .................................................... 17

Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 23

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Acknowledgements Thank you to everyone in Kirknewton who participated by sharing their ideas and opinions that have made this possible. To Kirknewton Community Development Trust (KCDT) who enabled this to happen and have willingly given their voluntary time to support the work. Also to the collaborative working of the trust Chief Executive Officer, the Youth and Volunteer Co-ordinator and the Finance and Administrative Officer, particularly in promoting the work through the media, social networking and a poster campaign. To the Big Lottery fund for supporting the work with an award to the trust. To West Lothian Council Economic Development for organising Ordnance Survey maps of the area. To the Community Council for supporting the work. Without all this help and support, we could not have done all this work.

Copyright

Maps West Lothian Council Licence No. 100037194, 2007 ©Crown Copyright 2007. All rights reserved under West Lothian Council Licence. Process method & photographs © Vikki Hilton This report is a record of all the ideas people shared during the community engagement work about the KCDT idea of applying to the Scottish Land Fund.

For more information contact:

About Kirknewton Community Development Trust (KCDT):

About this community approach:

Stewart McKenna (Chair) stew@onetel.com or Tony Foster: CEO KCDT tonykirknewton@gmail.com http://www.kirknewton.org/ The Green Room Kirknewton

Vikki Hilton Hilton Associates Ltd 3 Priory Grove South Queensferry EH30 9LZ vikki@hiltonassociates.com 0131 331 1523

The right of Victoria Hilton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with SECTION 77 OF THE COPYRIGHT DESIGNS AND PATENTS ACT 1988.

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Kirknewton – an introduction

Kirknewton lies about 10 miles to the south-west of Edinburgh in West Lothian. The village has an estimated population of 16801 people over the age of 16. Recent population figures based on the 2011 census data put the overall population at around 2000 people. Population Statistics Kirknewton

Name Council Area Settlement Population

census 1991-04-05

Population census

2001-04-29

Population census

2011-03-27

Kirknewton West Lothian 1,363 1,648 1,933

2Source: General Register Office for Scotland (web).

The 2001 and 2011 population figures are computed according to the 2010 definition of localities.

It is close to the A71 and only five miles from Edinburgh by-pass and three miles from Livingston. Despite this it is surprisingly rural and because of its past history it has a wide variety of housing styles and ages. Today, Kirknewton is a changing community, with new houses being built and new people moving into the area. It is close to good road links and has bus and train services. This community development work was undertaken on behalf of Kirknewton Community Development Trust (KCDT) by an independent community facilitator. This follows on from work undertaken in 2007 to engage the community around Sustainable energy projects and community benefits and broad scope work in 2011. The 2007 work engaged 167 people in sharing their ideas about renewable energy projects. For more details see http://issuu.com/isihamba/docs/microsoft_word_-_kirknewton_newsletter_report. The 2011 work engaged over 560 people and all the views people shared helped inform the preparation of the 2011-2014 community development plan. The current community engagement work is to build on the 2011 work and inform the new community development plan to run for the next 5 years up to 2020. As part of the broader community engagement work the participation team were asked to engage the community in thinking about, and commenting on how they felt about KCDT applying for funding from the Scottish Land Fund to purchase land at Camps East Junction. This is to build community owned energy efficient homes for retired people who wish to remain in the village but cannot afford to remain in their own home.

1 Estimated population Statistics 30 June 2005, West Lothian Council

2 http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-scotland.php?cityid=412001 accessed 4/01/2015

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The overall work was undertaken to ensure the wider community is involved in having a say about how community the community moves forward over the next 5 years to make Kirknewton and even better and more vibrant community to live and/ or work in. It will also help the help the trust form a bid for Scottish Land fund support.

About Kirknewton Community Development Trust:

Kirknewton Community Development Trust3 is a local membership organisation. It is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. Membership is open to anyone who lives in Kirknewton and is over 18 years of age.

Kirknewton Community Development Trust aims are to: • Promote opportunities for learning and education • Encourage community-led development • Help and encourage local people to develop new skills • Promote protection and enhancement of the local environment • Promote energy efficiency in the home • Promote the use of renewable technology for generating electricity and heat • Relieve fuel poverty

The voluntary members of the local charitable trust established to manage these funds were keen to involve more local people in what should happen and to inform the planned community development plan and future funding applications. For a full appreciation of the community engagement work undertaken in December 2014 the full report should be read in conjunction with this report. This report focuses on the additional question the KCDT wanted peoples views on which was to determine support for community land purchase.

Seeking local knowledge

A Participatory Appraisal (PA) approach was used which recognises the knowledge and values which already exist in an area. It is an informal, open, and transparent process, very often carried out by local people, and it is quite unlike most surveys and questionnaires. The approach enables and encourages people to share their knowledge of the area and community and what is important to them. The information in this report was gathered as part of the wider project by the team of facilitators who talked to people who lived and or worked in the area and recording everything that was said. In the end around 560 people shared their knowledge, ideas and opinions in the wider project and over and over 2000 comments were recorded.

3 http://www.kirknewton.org/community_groups/community_development_trust

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This style of report does not seek to come to any conclusions it’s a record of what people said and gives the community the information it needs to draw its own conclusions and move forward. This provides a good picture of what these people think about the Kirknewton area and specifically about the potential Scottish Land Fund application.

Aim of the work

The aim of the overall work was to ensure local views inform the preparation of the next 5 year community development plan and ensure it is based on community knowledge and solutions. In addition this particular report records the views of the local community to the question of whether they see a need for and/or support the land purchase project.

Scottish Land Fund Project Question

KCDT were very keen to include a question about an application to the Scottish Land Fund. This report is a record of how people felt about the idea and the comments people recorded.

What the KCDT board said about the project: KCDT wish to grant purchase land at Camps East Junction to build community owned energy efficient homes for retired people who wish to remain in the village but cannot afford to remain in their own home. The houses will be managed by a housing association for rent and to guarantee these homes will meet this aim. The land is already earmarked for development but we wish this to be for community benefit, not for a commercial developer.

They wanted to ask:

• Do you think there is a need for this project?

• Do you support the project? The overall work aimed:

• to reach as wide a cross-section of the community as possible in terms of age, gender, disability and locality;

• to encourage people to share their knowledge, ideas, opinions and solutions about the issues for their community and how positive changes might be implemented to inform the community development plan and

• to encourage people to evaluate the need and their support for seeking funding from the Scottish Land Fund to purchase the Camps Junction Land.

Why participatory appraisal?

In order to understand how people feel about the area and find out what they would like to see happening, an approach was needed that would let people share their views about what they thought about the area, and make suggestions about what could be done to change or improve it.

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Participatory appraisal recognises that the people who live in the community have the knowledge and experience to comment on it, and specifically encourages reaching out beyond the “usual suspects”. It encourages people to share their ideas and knowledge about life and local conditions and come up with solutions. It tries to involve as wide a cross section of local people as possible, and make sure there is equal representation. This means that those whose voices are not often heard or valued – “the hidden voices” – are heard. The use of visual methods enhances and encourages participation. These provide a structure, and act as a focus for discussion and analysis. In addition, this time a survey monkey questionnaire was used to broaden participation and 81 people chose to engage online. The online survey was a replication of the method used face to face using closed questions for basic information such as age, gender, location and open questions to enable people to explore the things that were important to them about the community and land purchase project. All the outcomes in this study are based on what people have said, and we have recorded them all as important. Please do read all the comments to understand how people feel about the Scottish Land Fund Project.

How it was done The overall community development participation exercise was promoted through flyers and posters as well as through Email, Twitter and Kirknewton Facebook page. The work was carried out collaboratively by Vikki Hilton who specialises in community development approaches and methods and KCDT, particularly working with Tony Foster, the Chief Executive Officer and the KCDT Staff.

Who participated?

The team spent from 9th to 23rd December 2014 working in the community encouraging local people to share their ideas and opinions about the area and the land purchase project. It culminated with a drop-in

feedback event run from 1000 – 1700 on Saturday 10th January 2015. Overall 561 people participated this included 81 of them through the online survey, 197 from Kirknewton Primary School and 40 at the feedback event on January 10th 2015. This was a fantastic level of interest. We were particularly encouraged by the thoughtful response people made on the online survey which extended the range of people who were able to participate. Four of the people who participated recorded that they were registered disabled.

The community engagement work included working in the village and wider community council catchment area at different times of the day during the week and

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weekend days. This meant walking around the area knocking on doors and visiting groups to ensure a wide range of people had a chance to share their ideas. In addition we drove around the wider area to ensure people from Humbie, Newlands, Leyden, Ormiston, Overton, Belstane etc had an opportunity to participate. The team worked with groups at the Green Room, the Toddler group, the Church Coffee morning and the Kozy Kafe. In addition the KCDT staff worked with the Youth Group and Mother and Baby Group in the Green Room. The team tracked the age range and numbers of people who were talking to them, to make sure that that all age groups were involved. They also checked that they were meeting a range of people that were close to the population spread of the area.

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Age ranges

This shows the age ranges of participants

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Age ranges

This shows how closely the age ranges of participants met the

population profile of the village

Population Statistics

Participation

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Everyone who participated put a dot on a map to show where they lived and a tick to show what age they were. This was to make sure that a wide range of people, young to older, women and men from all over the area were reached. The charts above show the range of ages who participated. They do not include the 197 primary and nursery children from Kirknewton Primary School who also participated. The maps below show the wide spread of people who took part in different parts of the community council area. Each dot represents a household.

The diagrams above show the age, gender and geographical distribution of those who participated. This shows enormous interest within the community and is evidence of the increased awareness of KCDT and interest in what is happening in the community. It also shows people have a real interest in being involved in improving Kirknewton as a place to live and work in. The following diagram shows how long people had lived in the village. The shortest time was a few months with the longest being well over 50 years.

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People who shared their ideas had lived this long in the community

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Gathering the information:

People were encouraged to share their ideas and opinions about Kirknewton in general and then asked what they felt about KCDT seeking support from the Scottish Land Fund to buy land at Camps Junction. This report is a record of what people said about the Land Purchase Project.

What people where asked:

It was agreed that a straight yes, no, don’t know question would not give people a chance to explore how they really felt about the idea and share their local knowledge about the land purchase issue. The method sheet used is shown below, people were encouraged to give reasons for the score they gave so that the Trust would get a better understanding of the community views.

Not everyone wanted to record how they felt about the Land Purchase Project and we didn’t ask the primary school children or Kosy Kafe young people the question. There were also other times, when we didn’t have time to ask the question such as talking at bus stops or on the street again either because of time or weather.

Organising the information

All the ideas people shared about the issue has meant a large amount of information from face to face conversations and the online participation was amassed and it had to be managed in some way. Every comment was recorded and some strong themes emerged from them. Whichever way the information was looked at there might have been different ways of categorising it. To show the strength of feelings linked to how strongly people feel there is a need for the project and / or they support it the comments have been recorded linked to the score given.

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Feeding back the information to the community

One of the features of this community engagement approach is to give prompt feedback to the community; this was done in several ways during January 2015.

• On-going feedback on Twitter and Facebook as the community work progressed

• At a drop-in event on Saturday 10th January 2015

• At a Community Council meeting on January 13th 2015.

• The report will be available to the community online and at the Green Room What now This information will be used by the KCDT to inform further work on the Scottish Land Fund application.

What the community said about the project Over 250 people commented on this specific project. Not everyone felt they knew enough to contribute to these two questions. Over 40 people said either they didn’t know, not sure or no answer. In addition some people just didn’t have time due to buses, picking up children or urgent business. When asked to rank how they felt about the questions 207 people ranked the first question about need and 216 people ranked the second question about support. Not everyone wanted to rank the questions. There were 139 comments about the need for the project and 123 comments about support for the project. Each comment represents a person. All the comments have been included to give a full understanding of community views.

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What people said: Do you think there is a need for this project?

The chart below shows how people feel about the project and the comments support their views which are why they are recorded by the score they recorded.

0102030

4050607080

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ranking

Do you think there is a need for

this project?

Number of people

The following comments are what the community recorded as important. Questions asked by community: What about plans for elderly houses to be built near school? If in a bought house, could you sell & then rent one? Who might benefit? Talk to people in the Church who know people who would benefit x 2. There are a lot of farm workers round about & when they retire somewhere, so would be good for them as in “tied houses” - such as Dalmahoy & up by Langwang. Lots of people on their own, single widowed who might be interested. Don't know anyone but have seen older people in village. Comments with scoring: 1 being not a need for the project to 10 strong need for the project. Scored 10: 41 people

• If people can benefit from it – convenient & near bus service.

• Especially for people downsizing as long as for elderly.

• Especially as more people reaching that age.

• People don't want to move out of their homes. Homes badly needed.

• I've heard neighbours saying they struggle e.g. high windows difficult to open. I'm on my own & too expensive to heat.

• Hard to get another house if a pensioner.

• Care of elderly a priority as we're all living longer & section of community left out.

• Elderly to stay in area where they've lived a long time.

• Definitely for elderly.

• Keep in village. Rather have retired than more young families.

• Yes because older community. Energy efficient homes excellent.

• Think there should be a need, would be very good.

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• Would benefit the community wherever it is.

• Ideal.

• Hope it will be disabled access for people who have lived in the village or family live in the village. The village needs housing to suit all ages & stages.

• Great idea.

• Elderly homes been sold off by Council so good idea. The more houses will get more amenities. X 2

• Some houses in Kaimes Crescent sold off – thought they were for older people.

• It would add to the village.

• As long as it would be rented & not bought & then sold on.

• Don't need more expensive houses.

• I may need one before too long!

• This is a great idea, the village looking after the older population without complaints about the size of the school population! Do we need more support/activities for older people?

• We are close to retirement and currently in Housing Assoc rented house.

• It is important to support our community.

• Anecdotal need from a number of sources

• "My mum is a pensioner and is retiring next year she lives in Polbeth but has wanted to come back to Kirknewton for years but there is just no housing available"

• Very little affordable elderly type homes in village and we'll all be old some day. (5-11 year old)

• There are enough overpriced houses in Kirknewton and very few local authority houses left. Why should retired people have to move away from family and friends?

• There is clearly a shortage of such properties!

• A community based project would be more likely to guarantee the affordability of these homes.

• It is important for older people to remain in their home area so that they stay part of a community. There are other nearby areas (Newbridge, Camps Industrial Estate) that can be developed for commercial uses.

• There is no accommodation like this for locals, they get sent away from their families when they need them most.

• Type of housing urgently required for villagers.

• I know a few older people who had to move away to sheltered accommodation and they really wanted to spend their last years here.

• It is wasteland any way but would be suitable for smaller houses, bungalows for the retired and near bus stop and routes and has ease of access.

• It simply makes sense. We need to look after our old folk who want to stay in Kirknewton in affordable housing.

• Kirknewton is their home and we shouldn’t just chuck them out because they are too old to work and earn a living. We should all help older people, help to look after them.

• Great idea! Community would benefit, it's not always about big companies making money.

• Community built/run housing is better than massive profit making cheapskate companies.

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Scored 9: 7 people

• Especially for people on own.

• In this day & age it's fantastic to keep people in their own community.

• Don't really know if there’s a need as new to the village but feeling is if there is a need, definitely go for it.

• Depends on need of whole village. Depends on size of house – penalised 1 extra bedroom e.g. if need carer.

• As don't know all facts yet.

• Community benefit has to be a good thing.

• The population in the village is getting older and although some people move out of bigger houses to somewhere smaller and nearer family, not everyone has family so keeping them in the village where they have friends is an asset. Also it would free up larger homes for families keeping the population turning over.

Scored 8: 18 people

• Lot of old people in village.

• Elderly & difficult upstairs so would be useful when need to move to smaller place.

• Prefer more useful to community than larger housing development. Like the idea of feeding back to community.

• People used to area so better for them & not so much of a change x 2.

• People who want a bigger house for family as it would mean larger properties become available.

• Would free up housing for younger people, but don't know enough.

• Need for accommodation like this but not on that site.

• Apart from the people of Hillhouse objecting to having a development close by, traffic, loss of view, impact on wildlife, I don't know what other reason there would be to object.

• If people who have lived here a long time and wish to continue doing so can be living there then it is a good idea.

• Affordable green homes

• I think there is some need for this. Not overwhelming. Would rather see it in community benefit.

• Would rather see the land used to benefit local elderly people and the community then commercial profit. If it wasn't used for the housing, could it be used for a community centre with large hall though?

• See 9 above. We must grow. And I support the need for affordable rented accommodation.

• I just don't like the idea of building on that land but I would rather it went towards helping the members of our community.

• It will be nice for them to continue living in the village they have lived in for so long and the houses will be a better size e.g. their kids have moved out so they need less space.

• Retired people stay and spend in the community, and with an aging population the need will only increase.

• Allow elderly people to get support they need yet remain in the community that they have spent majority of their lives in.

• Agree that would rather see it be of benefit to local community than commercial development and hopefully then benefit people who are already living here.

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Scored 7: 6 people

• Good to have a mix, rather than older people x 3.

• Don't know exactly how many people need it.

• Don't know.

• I wholeheartedly agree with the principle; however older people may feel isolated as it is a fair (uphill) walk to village centre. May also be problems with folks wandering onto road or train line. Would prefer this type of development over commercial use.

• Yes, if houses are for the people within the community then it would make sense for the community to benefit and not some large developer with no links to village. Maybe tradesmen could be selected for the work from the village .

• Infrastructure, particularly schooling and transport, needs to be looked at since already inadequate, I'm told, since freeing up larger houses when older people move into the new homes means potentially more families moving into the area.

Scored 6: 11 people

• Better to have something rather than nothing.

• Anything to improve village – care for elderly.

• Not sure but if the land is going to be used I would rather it was for older people & eco friendly good.

• "it's better that it is the community area and housing; however as there are more residents/homes all major amenities including speed signs, bus service, doctors surgery etc need to be considered - adding more residents to the village which is still very much suited to a half of the size of the present population is problematic" Advertising these homes for 'those who can not afford to remain in their own home' May lead to this development being stigmatised meaning that it isn't village residents who choose to use them.

• Can't guarantee the occupants.....who does the vetting to allow only retirees to reside there. What is the criteria and who chooses who is most in need??

• In principle it seems like a good idea. Our elderly people may need some local sheltered housing options, but the houses that they downsize from will be filled with families with primary school age children I think the school will struggle with that?

• I honestly don't know if there is a need for housing for retired people who wish to remain in the village but cannot afford to remain in their own home.

• It sounds a great idea but I have no clue whether there is the demand for it.

• Being young I do not fully understand how badly it is needed but can not see any reason against it. (a 16-17 year old comment)

• I personally don't know of anyone for whom this would be of benefit but it sounds a reasonable proposition.

Scored 5: 17 people

• Probably a need & probably people who could benefit would it be better to help people in their own houses with insulation, boiler checks.

• Don't know enough about it – possibly.

• Do not know if there is a demand.

• Don't know how many people in this situation.

• Would like to know how the community benefited from it, we also have to support local developers as some of the community may also be employed by them.

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• I am not sure of the need or demand for these homes

• I don't know the answer to this. This should be about identifying the people who need this and then weighing the costs/needs etc. it's not really up to public opinion.

• I am not sure of the demographic in Kirknewton nor the benefits and drawbacks of the option above versus other options that may be available.

• The development does not really affect me.

• I have no real opinion on the matter. I can see how either project would benefit Kirknewton in different ways.

• Houses required to be built and if we all took the view' not in our back yard' none would be built. Those that live within the housing association would be part of the community, possibly using and accessing facilities, services and adding to the community economy.

• I don’t feel qualified to comment on this. Is there a need?

• Ideally no development but at all but I'd rather KCDT if has to be anything. I'm not for 3 years of building works also new developments affect our own house prices.

• Need more information. Is there a guarantee it's for retired people?

• I'm not sure what this venture would entail, what effect it would have on all the people living in Kirknewton. Would like to know more before deciding.

• Need to find out more info therefore no strong views at present

• Without more details of the project I'm unsure of how sustainable this would be in the long run but would support community led investment over a commercial developer.

Scored 4: 2 people

• I don’t know if there's a need and it doesn't affect me or my family.

• Pressures on those who service those developments. Whether it's commercial or community, the local services especially the surgery need help.

Scored 3: 4 people

• Not good without a Doctor Surgery

• They should focus on using the money to have more facilities first rather than build homes.

• Where is the research showing people sell up on retirement?

• More houses with no more facilities is a real Co corn (sic). Would only supports if could see facilities improvement too.

Scored 2: 1 person Property could be let out to whoever after original tenants leave. Scored 1: 6 people

• The village already has an older population and it would be good to encourage more young families to come to the area. Some affordable family accommodation would be better.

• Okay to houses but we need a doctor dentist etc as not enough everyday facilities Don't think property development should be part of KCDT remit

• I don't know if there is a need for such housing, I'm not aware if there is.

• Don’t see why it has to be retirees only.

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• There are no housing association homes available in Kirknewton for years and years so if housing association want to build houses these should be provided to people living in the area who are waiting on housing

Comments but no scoring: 18 people

• Should be the Council not the community who's responsible for building them.

• Already pensioners homes here but have been given e.g. people on benefits & single – maybe 28 or 29 years old getting them. There is a need but Council give houses to wrong people.

• Bit far out if don't have own transport.

• It's the wrong place for older people – get the land for a sports centre or skate park. The land near Potter Around is more suitable for older people.

• Possibly too near railway line - never thought about it.

• Query whether it's suitable land to build on – don't know.

• Don't know enough if need for it. Location for elderly is a trek uphill.

• Need to survey that age of population as I don't know for sure.

• Need to look more closely at who might be reaching that stage of life – plan ahead.

• No idea as don't know how many people there are.

• Don't know enough whether elderly want it.

• Don't know if need.

• ? A need.

• I don't know at all.

• Quite happy in my house – don't know about others.

• Village got enough houses.

• Most pensioners here own their houses or family bought for them – prosperous village here.

• Help keep housing in all ages especially re bedroom tax – breadth of population.

What people said: Do you support the project?

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The chart on the previous page shows how much people support the project and the comments some people made which are why they are recorded by the score they recorded. Community Comment: Also need larger houses at affordable prices & environmentally friendly Comments with scoring: 1 being no support for the project to 10 being strong support for the project. Scored 10: 50 people

• Because the KCDT have seen a need that the Council are denying.

• The village will be a better community if it has all ages living here. Otherwise it could become a commuter village & people will not feel “rooted” here. Commitment is growing but local work would help too.

• Brilliant place. In keeping with village & free up homes for families if looking for bigger property. NB: Almond Housing Association in Craigshill is a good Housing Association as an example.

• Yes if it's required.

• But maybe it’s far away from centre of village & if older may be not so good – but bus stop & they'd have a bus pass.

• Good to keep people where used to.

• If it's worth it.

• Great idea.

• Gut feeling would be that it's something we should be doing.

• If shortage of housing will fill a need. Land lying bare, good to have something on it.

• In favour of helping the elderly .

• In favour of helping the elderly

• Completely support the project, great idea to help out older people.

• People would have company.

• Needs to be means tested and I think it is a great idea to help more vulnerable people.

• In favour of one small scale development like this.

• Family & friends here & as long as right people get them. Need for extra bedrooms. Rooms need to be big enough for furniture.

• Difficult to keep up homes when older.

• Fabulous idea. Keep people in the community.

• Always need for elderly – too expensive to look elsewhere.

• Only for elderly, not young people, so people can downsize.

• I feel very strongly there should be facility like this for the elderly.

• In principle with the idea.

• Provides facility currently unavailable close to Kirknewton.

• Only support if for local, older people. In favour if the person themselves has lived in the community.

• For local people first.

• Good to have places for the grandparents to keep families together. Housing in area is predominately for young families so need property for older people to stay

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close to families.

• Good idea for old people, quite a lot of people might benefit.

• Has to be all inclusive with community transport wanted – has to be an inclusion plan.

• Probably other people, like my mum, who would like a smaller place.

• You can see the need but don't know anyone in the village yet.

• Always a need for this sort of project.

• Good idea 'cos only the bungalows on Station Road.

• If it's the project re older people.

• Yes, for elderly people who have lived here all their lives (live and work in the community)

• This is a great idea, the village looking after the older population without complaints about the size of the school population! Do we need more support/activities for older people?

• Community built/run housing is better than massive profit making cheapskate companies.

• It simply makes sense. We need to look after our old folk who want to stay in Kirknewton in affordable housing.

• It is wasteland any way but would be suitable for smaller houses, bungalows for the retired and near bus stop and routes and has ease of access.

• Type of housing urgently required for villagers.

• Very little affordable elderly type homes in village and we'll all be old some day. (5-11 yrs)

• Retired people stay and spend in the community, and with an aging population the need will only increase.

• There is clearly a shortage of such properties!

• Older people are often 'forgotten' and building sustainable homes means reduced and affordable bills for people who are no longer working.

• It seems to me to be a sensible option, releasing more housing for families while taking care of our elderly residents.

• Common sense

• Will be elderly ourselves one day and id like to remain in the village.

• Why not? Let's make it happen.

• I love the idea of energy efficient housing for future generations!

• I get really annoyed with people (Nimbys) who move to a rural location then do their damnest to prevent others doing the same. Just to protect their view.

Scored 9: 9 people

• Good for the old folk.

• Valuable for local people who need extra support & assistance.

• Good idea. Favoured over commercial development.

• It can't not be a good thing - sure there will be a demand as time goes on.

• Need for the project, don't know anyone directly but have to be people who would need.

• Small, community based retirement option would be of benefit to the village, residents and businesses.

• If the people are local they have all their friends in the village. They are also the people who have made the community what it is and therefore should benefit

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from it.

• I believe KCDT have the community’s best interest at heart.

• I'd rather see the ground put to good use than neglected scrub land. Scored 8: 22 people

• As long as for old people & not give to drug users or homeless.

• All new homes should be energy efficient generally.

• If it would help people in village.

• It may or would prevent someone from moving out of the village who may otherwise end up in a home outwith the village.

• Would need a bus stop there & community facilities i.e. Library calling; maybe a community bus or this would be very isolated; Medical facilities available easily.

• Helping older people.

• If there is a demand I would support project.

• Would be useful for Grandparents.

• Would free up housing for others. Good to keep elderly in community.

• Pensioners would feel better in area they know. Not too keen for bigger developments. Yes for pensioners. Safe for them rather than larger house.

• Wasted land – Housing need.

• Think there will be a need.

• Wouldn't like it myself as have smaller house but would be good for some people.

• Lots of older people in village who may benefit.

• I might then be able to get a house with more rooms when people move out of bigger houses.

• If help old people yes, but need to know full plans & any impact.

• Apart from the people of Hillhouse objecting to having a development close by, traffic, loss of view, impact on wildlife, I don't know what other reason there would be to object.

• Allow elderly people to get support they need yet remain in the community that they have spent majority of their lives in.

• We must grow. And I support the need for affordable rented accommodation.

• Based on what I know at moment yet but don't know enough about it to give my full support yet.

• If there are (see q12) I would be in support of this project as I would like to see people be able to stay in their village and believe this is a better use of the land than a commercial developer developing it. I would be interested to know what the financial case is for it - is it a good use of KCDT money?

• If this is the only option for that land I do support it, but would like a community centre option to be considered. Income could come from groups/classes running there, hall hire for functions, maybe some small local businesses could have small office spaces there and pay rent?

Scored 7: 11 people

• I would suggest if a single storey as people living nearby wouldn't want view blocked.

• Good use of land.

• If a need then would support.

• I think it's a good idea.

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• Only if it's permanent use, not if it's to be sold on.

• Don't know enough older people to give a positive answer.

• Infrastructure, particularly schooling and transport, needs to be looked at since already inadequate, I'm told, since freeing up larger houses when older people move into the new homes means potentially more families moving into the area.

• In principle it seems like a good idea. Our elderly people may need some local sheltered housing options, but the houses that they downsize from will be filled with families with primary school age children I think the school will struggle with that? Good in principle, but may need some other issues addressed.

• I understand how hard it is for these people.

• I support it if it remains 'a retirement village' but not if it later gets developed into something else.

• It won't affect me but generally support this idea Scored 6: 2 people

• Can't guarantee the occupants.....who does the vetting to allow only retirees to reside there? What is the criteria and who chooses who is most in need??

• Great to have for those that might benefit but of no personal use to me. Scored 5: 18 people

• Good support.

• I wouldn't want to retire that close to railway.

• Would need more information.

• Not sure if have knowledge to answer.

• Would like to know how the community benefited from it, we also have to support local developers as some of the community may also be employed by them.

• I have no real opinion on the matter. I can see how either project would benefit Kirknewton in different ways.

• Without more details of the project I'm unsure of how sustainable this would be in the long run but would support community led investment over a commercial developer.

• I'm not sure what this venture would entail, what effect it would have on all the people living in Kirknewton. Would like to know more before deciding.

• I personally don't know of anyone for whom this would be of benefit but it sounds a reasonable proposition.

• More info required.

• Need to find out more info therefore no strong views at present.

• I am not sure of the demographic in Kirknewton nor the benefits and drawbacks of the option above versus other options that may be available. Neither support nor object the project as do not have enough information to make an informed choice

• It would be nice for people to stay in their own community

• I would rather have the village decide the outcome rather than a developer as we live very close to it,

• On the fence with this one. Is there a need for them? Can the community fund and sustain them?

• I don't have an objection. Home need to be built, as long as the infrastructure is in place to support this, I have no issue.

• I believe it is a good idea to invest funds into something that will benefit the

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community however I'm not sure there is demand for this project.

• Ideally no development but at all but I'd rather KCDT if has to be anything. I'm not for 3 years of building works also new developments affect our own house prices. Kirknewton is fine as it is.

Scored 4: 2 people

• Pressures on those who service those developments. Whether it's commercial or community, the local services especially the surgery need help.

• Where is the research showing people sell up on retirement? haven't seen demonstrable evidence of need.

Scored 3: 2 people

• Don’t really wish the land built on.

• The older one get, the more one need to see a doctor, Travel and getting an appointment is bad enough now, with the new houses down at Langton, it will be a nightmare. Would be good if we had both.

Scored 1: 6 people

• The village already has an older population and it would be good to encourage more young families to come to the area. Some affordable family accommodation would be better.

• More houses with no more facilities is a real Co corn. Would only supports if could see facilities improvement too.

• I don't support the project

• Property could be let out to whoever after original tenants leave.

• Because I think they should sort the village out before building homes.

• Don't think it's appropriate Comments but no scoring: 9 people

• Know there are lots of elderly in village, but don't know any personally.

• Land not best for elderly by railway line & query if could build on it as marsh land.

• I don't know at all.

• Not ideal location – long way away from centre, uphill & train at other end. Difficult to endorse this site.

• Concern that it's quite far out of village – tread with caution.

• Support the project but not where it is.

• Would want to know who gets the money i.e. what community i.e. will there be shares?

• Would not support at the moment as feel if older people move, more families move in & school already not big enough.

• Rather see community do something with land than Council.

Further Information

We would strongly recommend that you read all the comments; they give a good insight into how those who participated felt about the land purchase issue. There will also be copies of the reports available through Tony Foster and on the KCDT web site.

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Conclusion The KCDT now has the opportunity to use community views to take the project forward. It was clear from the comments people made and their engagement in the project idea that there are strong feelings at both ends of the spectrum about the viability of the land purchase. However it is clear from the picture that emerged from those that contributed that there is support for the project and people think there is a need for it. Clearly people need more information about the project to make a fully informed decision and this piece of community work has helped raise awareness of the potential. An astonishing amount of information has been shared by participants which makes for interesting and useful reading. It is an excellent starting point for developing the project ideas further and for KCDT to understand more clearly community feelings on this issue. This will also help inform the direction of the project and provide support for taking community ideas forward. Look out for updates on how this work is being used and for more meetings and/or information events. Key things that emerged are: 1. There are key informants in the community who know people who would benefit

from this project. They include:

• Local shop keeper and staff

• Local Church Minister and members of the congregation

• Members of the ex-pensioners group 2. People need more information about the project. A lot of people said they didn’t

know enough to record a view or they weren’t sure. KCDT should run an event of some kind such as a drop-in event, day and evening meeting to share their ideas and/or include information about the project in a newsletter – paper and virtual.

3. Include potential beneficiaries in the planning. 4. Include potential beneficiaries and the wider community in finding ways to

manage the “hill to the village” and potential isolation due to the sites position on the edge of the village.

5. There is support for the project idea, as can be seen from the ranking diagrams and comments but there are concerns over where the land is which the Trust will need to think about.