GLENTROOL & BARGRENNAN

RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Chairman:

Miss Meta Maltman

49 Glentrool Village

Newton Stewart

DG8 6SY

Secretary’s Report 2010-2011

This is a summary of events during the past twelve months as we have moved (often frustratingly slowly) towards winding up the Association and becoming Glentrool & Bargrennan Community Trust.

The draft Articles of Association for the new Trust were approved at an Extraordinary General Meeting in April 2010, but although only two small changes had to be made, the process of having the new constitution approved by the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator took much longer than expected. We had collected the twenty plus signatures needed to ensure that we could register the Trust with the Rural & Environment Directorate as an organisation that can exercise a Community Right to Buy, if we ever choose to do so. In fact around fifty people have already become members of the Trust and we very much appreciate this level of support for the new organisation. The Trust was registered with Companies House as a Company Limited by Guarantee at the end of December and has also now been registered with the Rural & Environment Directorate.

The closure of the School at the beginning of July was the end of an era, marked with a very successful social evening to celebrate the long partnership between school and community. As the need to find new and sustainable uses for the school building became more urgent, the creation of the Dark Skies Park seemed to present a new opportunity for Glentrool, as the only village within the Park. Over the next few months, the Committee worked up an outline development plan for a facility that would combine a range of community uses and activities with a visitor attraction on the themes of forest life and dark skies. This plan was well received by Dumfries & Galloway Council and the Forestry Commission. At the same time the Council undertook a survey, in which residents identified a range of options for community use of the school building. The outline plan and the findings of the survey were presented to the community and were given general (though not unanimous) approval. These activities have become the basis for a feasibility study to identify the best and most viable future for the school building and to support funding bids to carry out whatever development is needed. We have applied to the Big Lottery’s Investing in Ideas for a grant to fund for the feasibility study and are cautiously optimistic that our application will be successful. We have also chosen consultants for the study, briefing them to ensure that further community consultation and discussion will be part of their work.

In the Autumn, Dumfries & Galloway Council declared Bargrennan Hall surplus to requirements and began the process of a negotiated sale to Dumfries & Galloway Small Communities Housing Trust. This led to objections from some Bargrennan residents, who formed a Community Trust and registered for a community Right to Buy, hoping that it might be possible to stop the sale. The matter remains unresolved at the moment, but does not affect our plans for developing use of the school building.

Over the last year, members of the Committee have used a grant awarded through Dumfries & Galloway Council to visit other community groups who have taken over ownership or management of public buildings in their own areas. These trips to Whithorn, the Isle of Whithorn and New Galloway have been a useful source of ideas and instruction. Committee members also spent a day at Glasgow Science Centre to visit the planetarium and hold discussions with Dark Skies Co-ordinator, Steve Owens. As a result of this visit, we managed to have the school chosen as the venue for the first of a series of four lectures on astronomy. This event took place in November, with catering provided by the community and funded by the Forestry Commission’s Dark Skies budget. The actual viewing of the night sky took place at the car rally service base north of the village. The combination of a suitable indoor venue and easy access to a dark viewing area proved so successful that the school was booked for the rest of the series. The events to date have attracted a good turnout of residents as well as of enthusiasts from other parts of Scotland and beyond. This confirms our belief that Dark Skies activity has an important part to play in future plans for the school.

We have held many successful fund-raising events in the last twelve months. In addition to our annual Village Fete there have been music evenings, concerts, a Christmas Fair and a ceilidh. In previous years the school hosted a Christmas meal for senior residents, but in December 2010 we extended the event to include every household. An excellent meal, provided by Caroline’s Catering, was enjoyed by fifty residents, ranging in ages from the youngest to the oldest in the community. Half the cost of the evening was raised from ticket sales and a raffle, and the remaining half was funded by the Residents’ Association. All our events have owed their success to the hard work of activists who turn out to support the Committee whenever help is needed. We are also grateful to Pat Wardell, who acted as a volunteer key-holder and hall-keeper for six months before the Council appointed her as official janitor.

It is now a year since Karen, Helen and Daniel took over the House o’Hill. Since then the pub has gone from strength to strength, giving the community a renewed social meeting place and attracting new business not just from Bargrennan and Glentrool but also from a much wider area. This has given our regeneration efforts a welcome boost.

The year ahead should take us into a period of increased activity and development: perhaps a good time for the Residents’ Association to be handing over the baton to Glentrool & Bargrennan Community Trust.

Meta Maltman

Acting Secretary

February 28th 2011