Kirkcowan Community Action Plan 2020-2025
I’ve taken the liberty of splitting the 2020 Survey into smaller sections as the original report is in PDF format and is 43 pages long (You can find it here) It’s a lot of information to take on board in one document and I felt it might be helpful if it was converted to a searchable text format.
I have also separated out the various Appendixes, Projects and Comments onto separate pages and combined the Projects and the associated Comments where practicable.
2019 Pilot Survey – 2019 Pilot ‘Challenges’ – 2019 Pilot ‘Ideas’
2020 Main Survey – Survey Results – Comments –
Original Report and amended links:
Appendix 1 – 2016 Suggestions
Appendix 2 – 2019 Pilot Survey – Challenges – Ideas – Comments
Appendix 3 – 2019 Pilot – Other Ideas – Playpark – Jenna Morrow – Resilience
Appendix 4 – Main Survey Comments
Community Action Plan and Projects
Walks & Paths – Jenna Morrow Wood – Village Hall – Winter Fuel / Energy Efficiency – Play Park – Youth Facilities
Those of you using a PC can search for individual words or phrases by pressing the Control key and letter f [ Ctrl+F ] and entering your search phrase in the pop up text box (top or bottom of your screen depending on which browser you use) – this will highlight the text and display the number of times it’s mentioned on the page
In the nineteenth century the fast flowing waters of the River Tarf provided the motive power for two woollen mills located close to the village, which were a major source of employment. From the middle of the twentieth century, when the mills closed, and increased mechanisation on farms meant that less labour was required, there has been a decline in employment opportunities in the Community Council area. Many young people left the area to find employment elsewhere. At the same time, there has been an influx of newcomers who appreciate the advantages of living in such an unspoilt rural area. Many of these people are of retirement age.
As a result, Kirkcowan has a more elderly population than the national average. This is typical of most rural areas in Scotland where commuting to a large town or city is not an option, and local employment opportunities are limited. In formulating a community action plan for Kirkcowan it is important to be aware of the current age structure of the population, but also to have in mind that providing better community facilities could help to attract and retain young people in the future.
The extensive area of moorland in the north of the parish has historically had little economic potential, and has always been sparsely populated.
However, all this changed in the twenty-first century, when the area was identified as suitable for large scale wind farms, to generate electricity.
Several windfarms have been constructed close to Kirkcowan Community Council area, the largest of which is Kilgallioch. There are also benefits paid to the community from Velocita Aries and RES Glenchamber. As part of the approval process, the developers of these windfarms offered to make funds available to communities throughout Wigtownshire and South Ayrshire, with a particular emphasis on those communities closest to the windfarms,
of which Kirkcowan is one.
To facilitate the distribution of these community benefit funds the Kirkcowan Community Development Trust was set up in 2015 with three Trustees led by the chairman of Kirkcowan Community Council.
This arrangement continued until May 2019 when the Trust became a membership organisation with membership open to permanent residents of the Kirkcowan Community Council area. At the same time the Trust’s Board was expanded to include six elected Directors (who had to be members) and two Directors appointed by Kirkcowan Community Council to provide a link between the two bodies.
In 2016, an open meeting was held in Kirkcowan Village Hall to inform people about the Kilgallioch Community Benefit and to ask them to contribute what they would like the community benefit to be used for.
The ideas generated can be seen here. In June 2019 the decision was made to develop a Community Action Plan to establish a working plan for implementing community change by identifying what the community wanted to achieve and what activities would be required to deliver them.
Katrina Dick was appointed as Community Development Worker to consult with the community and to gather information to allow for a Community Action Plan to be created for Kirkcowan. She will then be tasked with ensuring the implementation and smooth delivery of the Kirkcowan Community Action Plan.
Survey Method
Kirkcowan is a small and tight knit community with a higher than usual elderly population. This reflected in the choice of surveying methods as it became apparent through talking with people and some business owners in the community that many of the citizens of Kirkcowan do not have an
email address or even broadband, neither are they interested in gaining one. Due to knowing about the issue in regards to digital communication as well as wanting to get to know the community better the Community Development Officer spent some time visiting various groups and tried to get in touch with as many people in Kirkcowan as possible to inform them of what was happening.
Pilot Survey
In early December 2019 a pilot survey was sent out to every household in Kirkcowan. The survey was very open-ended and encouraged people to write about their ideas for the village and also what they thought the challenges were. People were also asked about what they value most about
Kirkcowan. An identical online survey was also put up on Google Forms to encourage as many people as possible to answer. Survey results for the Pilot survey questionnaire can be seen here.
Main Survey
The main questionnaire survey which is considered the most important data collection point for the basis of the Community Action Plan, was sent out at the beginning of March 2020 with a response period of 14 days. Again the questionnaire was sent out to all households with envelopes clearly
marked Kirkcowan Community Survey and marked with KCDT logo.
The survey could also be completed online via Google Forms to try and accommodate as many different user groups as possible.
Although the survey was quite structured there was an opportunity at the end for anyone to leave comments. These can be seen in Appendix 4
Action Plan and Projects
Action points and discussion
Walks & Paths
Jenna Morrow Wood
Village Hall
Winter Fuel / Energy Efficiency
Play Park
Youth Facilities
External & Match funding.
There is approximately £ 210,000 per year of funds to use from the Windfarm Companies which provide Community Benefit to Kirkcowan.
By sourcing external funding it will be possible to move ahead with projects more steadily. Below is a list of potential funding for the different Action plan themes.
| Theme | Funding source |
|---|---|
| Greenspaces | National Lottery Community Fund National Lottery Heritage Fund Tesco Community awards |
| Village Hall | |
| Energy Efficiency | |
| Play Park | Awards for All Scotland National Lottery Community Fund Tesco Community awards |
| Youth Facilities | Awards for All Scotland National Lottery Community Fund The Prince’s Trust Tesco community awards Holywood Trust Comic Relief Children in Need |
Please be aware that the following comments and remarks are from
the public and do not necessarily represent the views of Kirkcowan
Community Development Trust.
Appendix 1
Feb 2016 meeting; funding suggestions
Appendix 2
2019 Pilot Survey – Challenges – Ideas – Comments
Appendix 3
Any other ideas – Playpark – Jenna Morrow – Resilience
Appendix 4