Cove and Kilcreggan need to generate their own energy, protect their coastline and build local food production, a meeting heard today.
More than 50 people attended the event held in Cove Burgh Hall by the villages’ Our Community project.
They were urged to be positive and try to engage with the ideas presented – and invited to see a trained counsellor on a ‘vent bench’ outside if they were unhappy with the proposals.
Funded by a £170,000 grant from CEIS, the three-year project was launched by Cove and Kilcreggan Community Council, together with the Rosneath Peninsula West Community Development Trust.
Villagers were asked about their priorities in a survey earlier this year and the two issues which came out as top priorities were the place – which included parking, the bay, businesses, pier, heritage, sport recreation – and environment.
“We are a peninsula surrounded by water, we need to protect our coastline, build local food production, generate our own energy,” project member Ali Mills told the meeting.
“We’re not trying to find majorities on things, or discuss necessarily specific options, at the moment we’re looking at what you’re interested in and what you’d like – blue sky thinking.”
At the meeting a large-scale design by her for Kilcreggan Bay – showing artists’ workshops, sheltered housing, community garden, beach huts, tidal swimming pool and sandy beach – was on display.
It had been shared on the community council’s Facebook page beforehand, but community council secretary Sheelagh O’Reilly said it had not been discussed by the community council and has not been ‘agreed’.
It shows a ferry using a new stone quay rather than Kilcreggan’s 125 year-old pier – fears that the pier would be neglected if it was no longer used by ferries led to the Save Kilcreggan Pier group being formed last year.
A section of land on Fort Road has already been offered for sale to the community – it is marked as a restaurant and rowing club on the design which was at the meeting.
Options for power generation on display were solar, wind, CHP (combined heating and power), hydro, bio digestion – and even micro-nuclear.
Project member Sheena Edwards told the meeting: “The aim of the project is to make Cove and Kilcreggan resilient for the future and to try to meet the needs of everyone who lives here, and maybe those that come to work here as well.
“We need to protect jobs, we need to protect businesses, we need to protect our community.
“There is now a community empowerment act, and this is asking the communities – us – to plan for our future, to develop our place plan.”
Residents were asked to sign up for working groups looking at a wide range of issues around the two themes of place and environment – more information is on the website.
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