In Autumn 2010, the Crieff and Upper Strathearn Partnership (CUSP) carried out a survey of the residents of Crieff to get people’s views about how certain things in the town could be improved. The survey covered a range of issues (e.g. parking, traffic, public transportation, the availability of social / leisure facilities and the problem of derelict buildings in the town, etc.) and it also provided space for people to make suggestions for ways of improving the town.
The survey was completed by more than 700 people and the findings were presented at three public meetings in Crieff, including a large meeting at the Crieff Hydro in November 2010. (A full report of the survey is available here, and a summary of the main findings is available here.)
After the survey was published several working groups were formed — one of which was given the task of looking at the issue of town centre regeneration. This included trying to find ways of improving selected shop fronts and dealing with the problem of large, derelict buildings in our town. This working group (which was called CRAG – the Crieff Regeneration Action Group) looked at how other towns in Scotland have addressed similar issues. The group came to the conclusion that a positive way forward would be to form a community development trust.
A public meeting was held at the Crieff Hydro in June 2011 to put to the residents of Crieff the idea of establishing a development trust for the town. Rory Dutton, from Development Trust Association Scotland, explained what a development trust is and what it does, and representatives from development trusts in Callander, Doune and Stanley came to the meeting to talk about their experiences. Of the nearly 200 people who attended that meeting, 95% were in favour of forming a development trust in Crieff.
A voluntary Steering Group was established in September 2011, to prepare the way for a full community development trust to be established in 2013.