Priorities ranked for five-year action plan

More than 300 people took part in events designed to help shape the future of Auchterarder and Aberuthven.

Known as Community Futures forums, two feedback sessions were held over the last weekend in February – one in the Lang Toon’s Aytoun Hall and the other in Aberuthven Village Hall.

They were held following a community survey and what were described by organisers as‘Community Conversations’ being carried out previously.

Themes identified so far include community facilities and activities; safe and active travel; housing and services, and traffic and parking.

The most recent events saw people asked to vote on the priorities they believe to be most important and information gathered will be used to form a five-year community action plan for the area.

Community connector Angela Laurie said: “Our steering group volunteers were delighted with the success of both events – we had a steady flow of visitors both days, with 320 people attending over the weekend.

“It’s the first time we’ve held a community event in a long time and people commented on how nice it was to be together.

“One of our initial aims for the CAP process was strengthening connections within our community, so these comments were especially lovely to hear.

“We had such a range of ages attending – from little kids guessing the date of the monkey’s birthday and planting seedlings, to adults enjoying a cuppa, cake and a chat.

“We were well supported by pupils from the Community School of Auchterarder and other amazing local volunteers, community groups, council officials, local politicians and representatives from the local Rural LEADER group – whose funding has made this whole process possible.”

Angela continued:“The next stage is to take all of the information from the various stages of the process and write our community action plan.

“People are excited by the opportunity and it’s hoped that, as engagement has been high throughout, people will feel ownership of the action plan and motivated to be a part of turning plans into actions.

“We’re hoping to launch the next stage towards the end of April.”