Pride in Cowie is ignited by young
Plans being made to improve community environs
Young people in Cowie’s embarrassment over their village main street is helping to spark renewed passion to change things for the better.
Stirling Council’s community planning and regeneration committee heard on Thursday that the younger generation didn’t feel proud to say they came from Cowie because of the state of the street.
But a community forum was starting to bring people together to make a difference.
Cowie is one of several test sites to “explore community empowerment” - others being Mercat Cross, Strathblane, Killearn, Balfron and Strathfillan and Killin - and is being seen as “a recognised regeneration area with clear aspirations to rejuvenate its heart and improve the outcomes for the individuals and families who live there”.
A quarterly local community leadership forum has been established, meeting quarterly and comprising the local headteachers, community representatives, Norbord, First Bus, police and council officers, Active Stirling and more. It was beginning to draw in more and more interested parties.
Stirling Council officials stressed it was not a replacement for community councils but a way of “enthusing and attracting people who might not necessarily want to be involved in the community council to lead local needs, rather the Stirling Council saying ‘this is what you need’.
Three meetings have now taken place and forum members have identified three major priorities - the Main Street; crime, anti-social behaviour and vandalism; and opportunities to increase the wellbeing of children and young people in the village and raising their aspirations. A video has also been made.
Clare Stevenson of CRAG (Cowie Regeneration Action Group) said: “One of the issues for the kids was that they didn’t feel proud of coming from Cowie because of the Main Street so we are working closely with Stirling Council through the hub project to look at what can be done.”
Clare said that discussing recreational opportunities had resulted in local young people being surveyed, with a skatepark - due to open soon - for the village being the overwhelming favourite. A location near the football pitches and both primary schools was identified and the community worked with the council to obtain the land and funding.
“The council has agreed to take over the maintenance of the site,” added Clare, “which is a big weight off the community’s shoulders.”
Council officials told the committee the forum was set up to look collectively at “aspirations, issues and problems” and how to achieve or solve them together.
They added: “One thing that came out was that people didn’t feel pride in Main Street and felt it was run down, particularly with a burned out shop which has been there for a long time. There were also issues brought up with parking and whether it was safe for kids walking to school. People want to improve the centre of the village.
“There is more housing coming to Cowie and they wanted a town centre to be proud of. Among the disussions has been how to perhaps take away the burnt out shop and have some kind of community hub if that’s what the community want, or using the community centre in a better way and make the main street more attractive and community-led.
“Stirling Council is not saying ‘this is how it should be done’ but just that certain things might be options.”
“Innovative work” was ongoing, with projects such as First Bus conducting antivandalism projects in schools and Active Stirling working with the community to look at buggy walks for parents and children and community paths projects to meet a desire to improve children’s health and wellbeing.
Cowie Miners Welfare was also being asked to help engage with elderly people to see what they would like for the village.
Officers acknowledged that it was more difficult to bring on board business owners who did not live in the village, and that more involvement from health services would be welcomed, but added that as momentum grew they were confident more parties would come on board.
Local councillor Violet Weir said: “Main Street hasn’t changed much since I was a girl so it’s about time something was happening there. We can’t just have a talking shop. We really need to deliver as local people have been promised things in the past that have fallen by the wayside.
“Sometimes there are difficult subjects the community puts to us, but we have been able to find solutions, so I welcome this in Cowie and I hope more test sites come forward.”