Local Place Plan Update
25/10/2023
The Local Place Plan has been an ongoing project for Newton Stewart and Minnigaff since December 2022 when NSI put in an expression of interest to D&G Council to create a Local Place Plan for our area. We are nearing the final hurdles! The steering group has been made up of representatives from NSI, Cree Valley Area Development Trust, Cree Valley Community Council, D&G Council, and the Pageant.
We have been meeting up every other week to discuss the themes of the Local Place Plan and to begin to create an action plan for the area based on what you identified as the top six themes in our town. We have one more meeting to discuss the themes and then we are having a visioning event.
A visioning event is where you can come along and share with us your vision for Newton Stewart and Minnigaff in ten years’ time e.g. a thriving town known as the Gateway to the Galloway Hills, THE place to stop in Dumfries and Galloway, a sustainable and economically thriving town, you get the gist. From listening to everyone’s vision, our aim is to create a collective vision for the town. We will be hosting a visioning evening for local groups and organisations at Vibe 75 on Wednesday 15th November from 7pm. This is your chance to contribute towards the overall vision for the town. We will also be holding an open day for the community for others to share their ideas.
Behind the scenes
Collating and collecting the results from the online survey and in person consultations has been no easy feat. All comments have been downloaded and will be available in due course for everyone to access. NSI are liaising with D&G Council to begin writing up the action plan and ensuring all legislative angles are covered, including maps being drawn up and content created. We have received £500 funding which will go towards refreshments at the visioning event and to pay for A4 acrylic poster displays in Vibe 75 that summarises the Local Place Plan results. Once the LPP has been drawn up, we will be creating a brochure that summarises the Local Place Plan and printing off 250 copies, through JP Print.
Once the plan is finalised it will be submitted to all local councillors and community councils for a 30-day consultation, which allows for any additional comments. Once the 30 days are up, the plan is then submitted to D&G Council to form part of their Local Development Plan.
The Local Place Plan is a working document and is accessible to everyone in the community and we are hoping to have this submitted by the end of January 2024