Crieff empty spaces – Have your say
Crieff Community Trust applied to the Scottish Land Fund at the beginning of July for a major feasibility study of the Drummond Arms, we also applied to Perth and Kinross Council for money to go towards the study.
In August the SLF gave us its decision: ‘the feasibility of this project needs to be identified prior to undertaking any project management or design work on the Drummond Arms… the Scottish Land Fund is not about retaining buildings for their heritage value but about the benefits to the community that can be gained from an acquisition and future community use.’
The Scottish Land Fund also said ‘the feasibility of this project – including an options appraisal of other potential sites in the area that could be used to deliver the community outcomes – needs to be identified prior to undertaking any further work on this specific building.’
CCT has learned that an Options Appraisal is the first stage of trying to make use of a redundant building.
Currently there are other groups interested in saving Old St Michaels Church and the Town Hall. This study will help them too. They won’t need to apply for funding to do their own Options Appraisal of Crieff. They can also use the report once it is complete at the end of February.
While CCT knows how important it is to our community to find a solution to the prominent derelict site of the former Drummond Arms hotel which is bringing down our town centre, we appreciate it makes sense to look at all of the empty sites as a whole and have a joined up approach to filling them with the different uses that are currently missing from our community.
Crieff Community Trust has commissioned independent consultants, Community Enterprise, to run a community consultation. There are a number of opportunities for people to say what they think is missing from our community. Look out for them at:
Christmas Fayres
Saturday 26th November 2016
Crieff High School 10 – 1.30pm
Morrison’s Academy 1 – 4pm
Drop-In at Strathearn Artspace
Monday 28th November 2016
3 – 7pm
Crieff Christmas Market
Friday 9th December 2016
James Square from 10 – 2pm
Please put these dates into your diary and help us to raise awareness of these events by telling your family, neighbours and friends.
If you have any questions please contact Alison at Community Enterprise: 01506 862227 or alison@communityenterprise.co.uk
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In my experience as a Chartered Architect and Property Developer, sometimes buildings are beyond saving, sometimes your limited funds are better spent elsewhere, it comes down to simple development economics. The costs involved in these derelict buildings immediately exclude them from consideration. Crieff urgently requires commercial vitality focussed on why the town is failing, jobs for the young and a sustainable commercial future. Only from this informed rigour can a vibrant and prosperous and appropriately multi faceted community be reborn and any capital invested bring maximised return.
Don’t be led by a building, only be led by an appropriate vision of what the town needs.
Buildings like the Drummond Arms remains and still plays a part of Scottish History here as do other buildings in Crieff. To simply state they are beyond saving due to economics is utter laziness and a lack thinking outside the box.
Yes this is a challenge for the Town of Crieff but such approach to solving this challenge more effectively means becoming more globally resourceful, seeking out others whom also know or understand and whom even lived in Crieff prior which can then can assist in finding connections, people, societies within other continents to rally for these significant causes to achieve what will, should and can be both a smart and effective outcome for this particular centre stage and historical building along with other significant additions to then turn this current slow and lacklustre approach into a more serious and social, technological and financial approach by pooling resources from all walks of life.
To set this up, the committee needs to delegate individuals internationally yet prior to doing so, a much finer tuned media kit for those individuals will be needed to assist those whom wish to, can, or are willing to deploy time and energy to make the reality a successful achievement in conquering this challenge.
My family is originally from Crieff, as too there are many other families & individuals all over the world in Australia, Canada & the U.S. who would seriously care about these matters, so again, Delegate whatever tasks and strategies to ask for their assistance to make this work or to even raise the bar higher and achieve more by making clear what mission objectives and statements transparent with a sense of urgency.
As even I myself have only have just found out this tragic in April 2017, so look how much time has passed? How many ex pats world wide would also know? Again, delegate, expand, look further outwards and especially globally.
Regards,
Andy Snowden