Work started on site on Tuesday 14 November 2017, when our contractors arrived on site and started setting up.  They will be on site daily over the next two weeks, and will be stowing as much equipment as possible in their site container when not working.  Can all parents / carers please remind their children to stay away from the construction area and all machinery / equipment / fenced off areas.  We will endeavour to keep access to the play area clear so that children can still use the other equipment as much as is practicable.  But we ask that you vacate the area if asked to do so by the contractors for Health and Safety reasons.  We anticipate that works will be complete by Friday 24th November (weather permitting!) but there may be some ground reinstatement to complete after this date.  Re-seeding of damaged grass will be held over until the Spring.

This month we wave a sad farewell to our Lead Project Officer, Olwen Staples. She has worked part-time for Moniaive Initiative since 2013, establishing our Scottish Incorporated Charity status, and setting up all the administrative and financial mechanisms required to operate a successful community charity. Her research into High Street Regeneration and community-owned affordable housing options has shaped our current direction, and laid the foundations for many of the projects we are currently progressing. The Trustees, staff and members of Moniaive Initiative would like to thank Olwen for all her hard work, and wish her all the very best for the future. In the meantime, it will be business as usual at Moniaive Initiative, as Deborah Iden continues to progress our full portfolio of projects.

The role of “Member” at Moniaive Initiative has very few obligations: we avoid lengthy meetings, as we know how busy you all are.  But we do sometimes ask for members’ views and comments on projects we’re working on, and we do ask that members vote on resolutions if and when they arise.  Now is one such occasion.

We are currently in the process of drafting bids to the Scottish Land Fund and the Big Lottery for funding towards our proposed Community Shop & Hub. As part of this process we have been required to carry out a Governance Review, and that process has revealed areas where we need to improve or tighten our paperwork.

One of these areas is the Constitution, which requires minor amends to make us eligible for funding from these, and other major funders.  The required amends are shown here in italics:

Clause 5	The organisation has power to do anything which is calculated to further its purposes or is conducive or incidental to doing so.   This includes the power to own land/property, to generate income and to employ staff.
Clause 11	Membership is open to any individual aged 16 or over who is a resident of Glencairn as defined by the community cou ncil boundary.
Clause 14	The board may, at their discretion, refuse to admit any person to membership where they have reasonable grounds to believe that he/she might, if admitted to membership, act in a manner which would damage the reputation of the organisation, undermine the efficiency of its operations and/or disrupt the proper conduct of its meetings. Membership will not be refused without good cause or explanation, and may not be refused on the basis of gender, age, ethnic background, disability, caring responsibilities, sexual orientation, religious belief, or marital status
Clause 17	Minimum/maximum membership numbers Minimum number of members shall be 20. There is no maximum number of members.

A full draft of the proposed, revised Constitution is available to view here, should you wish to review these proposed amends in context:

Moniaive Initiative Constitution Revision 6 07082017

MEMBERS will be contacted by letter / email in the next few days and asked to vote (to either accept or reject the revisions).  Please do take the time to vote, as we are unable to progress our projects until this issue is resolved.

Thanks!

We are very excited to announce that we have received a grant offer of £2,750 from Nithsdale Area Committee towards the Macara Park Improvement Project. This grant, together with recent local donations, means that we have reached our fundraising target. Thanks to everyone who has supported us through this process: we can’t wait to get the new play equipment installed!

Congratulations to 9 year old Sophie, whose poster was selected from those completed during our Gala completion, to feature on our Website and Facebook Page to promote our Lower Speed Communities project.

Thank you to all those who braved the rain to visit our stall at the Gala, and talk to us about this and our other projects.  We are continuing to ‘map’ where the traffic and pedestrian problem areas are in Moniaive, and will use all your comments to help build our case for a 20mph area.

In the meantime, our ‘wee laddie’ is still out and about, moving around the verges of Moniaive, to remind drivers to slow down and be aware of children and other pedestrians.

Work is continuing on our Community Spaces project. Following further discussions with our main potential funders, we have revised and updated our Options Appraisal and Business Plans, in readiness for a Stage II Application to Scottish Land Fund towards the purchase of a building, and for Development Funding from Big Lottery towards the renovation and refurbishment of that building to create our Community Charity Shop and Hub.

We are currently carrying out an updated ‘Needs Survey’ to help us in this process.   If you, your business or local club / organisation currently use local meeting, office or retail space, or might require them in the foreseeable future, we would like to hear from you. The survey should take 10 minutes or less to complete, and your details will remain anonymous.   You can reach the survey through the link  below:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/9QZP6J8

Or you can print off a paper copy (which can be returned via the MONIAIVE INITIATIVE BOX in Watson’s Grocers) here:

3_Needs Survey_Paper Copy

Please remember, this survey will help us to shape new community spaces to supplement, not replace, existing spaces in Moniaive.

 

   

On 19 May 2017 representatives from many of the local organisations of Glencairn came together, along with business owners and local residents, to discuss the issues of speed and road safety in Moniaive, at the first public meeting of our Lower Speed Communities project.  Those present helped to map ‘problem areas’, before sitting down to discuss the issues in more detail, and to decide on the first steps to be taken towards improving the situation in Moniaive.

The full Meeting notes can be accessed by clicking on the links at the bottom of the page.  But in brief, those present agreed that:

1. Speed is an issue with vehicles entering / exiting the village.
2. Size of vehicle, as much as inappropriate speed, is an issue to pedestrians
3. Lack of pavements, combined with inappropriate parking, increases the dangers to pedestrians
4. Moniaive is a busy, working village, and any ‘solution’ must be sensitive to the importance of that traffic to the local economy.

 

The Mapping process highlighted particular worries around:

a) The Dunreggan entrance to the village

b) Parking outside the public toilets

c) Parking outside the shop

d) Parking around the School at start / end of school day

It was agreed that the next steps should include requesting speed-check results from the local Police, and organising our first meeting with the local authority to discuss the issues in more detail.  Everyone present was reminded that collection of evidence (-photographic where possible) would be helpful.

The full Meeting Notes can be found here:

1_Mtg Notes_19May2017

1_Mtg Notes_19May2017_MappingTheProblems

If you still have comments, photographs, or ideas to share with us, please email Deborah or Olwen at moniaiveinitiative@gmail.com

 

 

We will be holding a meeting from 1.00-3.00pm on Friday 19th May 2017 in the Glencairn Memorial Institute, to explain what our project is all about, and to gather ideas and information to carry our project forward.

So whether you are a driver, a cyclist or a pedestrian, if you would like to know more about the project, or have comments to share, please come along and join in the discussion.

Moniaive Initiative is currently working with walking charity, Living Streets (Scotland) on their national pilot project: Lower Speed Communities.  With communities of all sizes expressing concern over the speed and volume of traffic on their streets, Living Streets will be working with local authorities and community organisations in four pilot communities to support the introduction of 20mph areas.  In remote and rural communities such as Glencairn, cars are as vital as they are troublesome.  The village of Moniaive was shaped in an era of horse-drawn vehicles, when walking was ‘the norm’, but pavements were not necessary.  These narrow streets are now lined with parked cars, and groan under the weight of the HGV and agricultural traffic that powers our local economy.

Lowering vehicular speed is all about redressing the balance between walkers, cyclists, and vehicular traffic.  Lower speed communities benefit from cleaner air, less traffic noise, and safer streets.  At 30mph there is a 1 in 5 chance of a pedestrian being killed.  At 20mph that drops to 1 in 40.  Remember that next time you drive past the village school.

Our first target will be to increase local support for the principle of a 20mph area.  Before we even start to look at imposing speed limits, we want to discuss where the ‘problem areas’ are, and consider a variety of alternative means of encouraging drivers to reduce their speed in these target areas.

Whether you are a pedestrian, a cyclist or a driver  – a resident or a visitor –  if you have comments or ideas to share on this issue, please do contact us.

 

We have spent the last few weeks using our Development Grant from the Climate Challenge Fund to look at ideas for possible carbon reduction projects in Glencairn. These are some of the ideas that have come out of our local consultation. (You can get a closer look by clicking on the individual pictures.)

   

We have created a quick online Survey, so that you can vote for the scheme that you would like us to carry forward.  There are just 6 questions to answer, to let us know your preferences.  It only takes 5 minutes, and it’s completely anonymous. So why not click on the link now!

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/C27SNBT