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Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning 2006

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Application form

Please make sure you have read all the notes carefully before you start to fill in the application form. This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically - it is available on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning. Please complete all five sections. The deadline for submitting applications is 8 September 2006. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.

1 Please provide a name and contact details of the lead organisation responsible for this work.

Name

James P Currie JP

Job title

Chairman & Director

Organisation

Muirkirk Enterprise Group

Address

c/o Dunayre, 116/118 Main Street, Muirkirk

Telephone

01290 661324

Fax

01290 660042

Email

jpcurrie95@aol.com

2 If this is a joint application, please list the other partners who had a key role. You should also inform your partners that you are nominating the project for an award.

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3 Tick the category of nomination

image of unticked box Development Plans image of unticked box Development Management image of unticked box Development on the Ground image of ticked box Community Involvement

Title of entry

Muirkirk Skate Board Park

Please complete the form on the following pages by providing a brief summary of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude with a key reason as to why you think this work merits an Award. Only the two A4 pages supplied here can be used and your text must fit within the boxes. The font size should be no less than 12pt.

The judging criteria are set out below. Please tick only the key criteria relevant to your entry:

image of unticked box Professional knowledge image of unticked box Innovation image of unticked box Management image of ticked box Sustainable development

image of unticked box Partnership image of ticked box Community interest image of ticked box Regeneration image of unticked box Customer satisfaction

You must describe, in your written submission, how the criteria which you have ticked relate to your project.

Description of project

The project is a Skate Board Park which is the first Skate Board Park in East Ayrshire. The Park was opened on Saturday 9th September 2006 by Cathy Jamieson MSP and Fiona Lees, Chief Executive of East Ayrshire Council

The Park is a former tennis court which had fallen into disrepair and is situated in the Victory Park, which is the polypro for Muirkirk.

The Park is not taking the place of the Tennis Courts as the Tennis Courts have been transferred to the Outdoor Sports Complex, which the Group built two years ago. It is a modern Park built and designed by Russell Leisure of Edinburgh and a consultant was employed to look after the Project.

It complies with all the new Health and Safety Regulations and a fence has been built around the perimeter of the Park to avoid problems with any residents, who stay near at hand

Context - describe the background to the project

The Enterprise Group was formed to assist in the Regeneration of the Village and to try and encompass all ages with a variety of activities.

The youngsters of the Village initiated a petition and handed it into the Group as request to build a Skate Board park.

This petition was of their own choosing and was handed in at one of our monthly meetings.

What are the aims and objectives of the project?

Muirkirk over the past year has been subjected to a lot of adverse publicity and there has been over 100 incidents of assaults, theft, breach of the peace, drunk driving etc which has reached the National Press

The Group decided to build the Park in an attempt to reduce the amount of crime and let the teenagers exert their energy by means of Skate Boarding.

A Group of teenagers are now formed themselves into a committee to manage the Park and to arrange a variety of activities within the Park. This gives the young people a degree of responsibility and a number of the committee are those who previously spent their free time drinking 'Bucky' etc.

The Group will be looked after by members of Meg but the young people will be listened to.

While it has only been open for a few days - it has been packed with eager youngsters although it is still early days before one can come to a conclusion

Timescale - over what timescale has the project been developed?

The Project was first thought about in December of 2005 and to start the Project we had to find suitable ground, obtain quotations, employ a Consultant and attempt to Grant Fund and come to an agreement with the Council for the lease of the land

The cost initially of the Project was around £45,000 but eventually finished at £95,000. Weith much letter writing and grant funding the cash and the Project was finally finished a fortnight ago.

Action - explain the process and action taken

The first stage of the process was to obtain the lease of the land from the Council then apply for funding, which we received from the Big Lottery, Coal Regeneration Trust, Mineral Trust and East Ayrshire Council.

As stated due to the condition of the surface of the former Tennis Courts the cost almost doubled as we required to make a sounder base for the equipment to be installed.

Explain the role of the key partners

The key partners for the Grant Funding were as stated above but we had to ask them to allow us to alter what the Grants was going to fund as most of the money was transferred to building a more solid base.

East Ayrshire Council were very supportive of the Project and continually helped us in many ways and without their help the Project would not have succeeded

Results - what results were achieved?

The results are shown in the finished article and is certainly a credit to all those involved and so far has been well used with some very enthusiastic young people and certainly enhances the look of the Public Park

Conclusion - in summary, why does this piece of work merit an Award?

It is an excellent example of team working from the Council a local Community Group and Young People to help to alleviate the problems of crime and hand over part of the management to those that will be using the equipment.

The Meg Group is a ltd Company with Charitable Status and has won a number of Calor Gas Awards over the past few years and shows what can be achieved with partnership workingby all sections of the Community. The Group have built an Floodlit Sports Complex two Heritage Parks. Totem Poles, arranged a series of walks, bought and refurbished their own Offices and has put spark once again in a community that was almost finished.

Date

September 11 2006

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