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Daily Record
10 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Record
Grangemouth community demand 'less consulting, more action' from Falkirk Council
The draft of a new masterplan for Grangemouth will now go to public consultation but the public want to see changes soon Falkirk Council chiefs say they have heard 'loud and clear' that people in Grangemouth want them to 'stop consulting and start doing'. Members of Falkirk Council's executive agreed this week to launch a consultation on a new 'spatial vision and masterplan' that they hope will guide the transformation of the town over the next 20 years. Officers say the plan has been developed to tackle some of the key challenges currently affecting local residents, such as the closure of shops and businesses and a lack of high quality, family housing. But councillors made clear that Grangemouth cannot wait for change and that they want to see 'shovels in the ground' as soon as possible. Falkirk Council's head of growth, Michael McGuinness, told the meeting that he recognised that there have been a number of consultation exercises with the community in the last few years. "In engaging with our community, the feedback we've had is 'stop consulting, start doing'," he said. "They want to see changes happening in Grangemouth - that's a real concern." But Mr McGuinness said he believes that the draft plan they are now consulting on "will give us a really strong blueprint for allowing that change to happen". The main aims are: Make the town centre easier to walk and cycle around by improving paths and connections. Develop new housing in and around the town centre to bring more people into the area. Attract new businesses by offering better spaces and supporting mixed-use developments. Improve public spaces with more green areas, seating, and landscaping. As the industry in Grangemouth begins to transition away from fossil fuel-led businesses, the hope is that local people will start to see some of the benefits from an array of investment programmes, strategies and policies that have been introduced. Officers say that a masterplan is vital to pull together and oversee all of the changes that will inevitably affect the town over the next few years. But councillors questioned officers on the value of another consultation - which will cost £70,000. Director of Place Services, Malcolm Bennie, said the document would be crucial to attract funding for the ambitious plans that are being laid and make sure that everything happens "in a considered, planned way". Conservative councillor James Bundy asked how long it would take to see "shovels in the ground", once the final version of the document is ready. Mr McGuinness said that some projects are already ready to get underway as part of the Greener Grangemouth programme, which has funding from UK and Scottish Governments through the area's Growth Deal. "This masterplan leads directly to that so we'd expect to see some shovels in the ground next year but what scale is still to be determined." But Mr McGuinness did admit that masterplans were essentially a longterm commitment that can take "decades" to come to fruition and that funding will be a significant factor. "Our objective is to accelerate that as much as possible and bring forward as much investment into the town centre as we possibly can," he said. "This gives us a tremendous blueprint to do that." Councillors agreed that officers should progress with engagement on the draft masterplan. Once complete, the executive will be asked to approve the final version of the masterplan.
Daily Record
02-05-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Falkirk history groups to get chance to claim museum collection pieces in major review
A panel of experts will review 36,000 objects before finding a new home for the museums store Local history groups across Falkirk are to be given a chance to claim any historical objects that would be discarded as part of a major review of Falkirk Council's museum collection. The closure of the museum's current store, which members heard is "not fit for purpose", has sparked a review that will see a panel of experts comb its 36,000 objects to decide if any are duplicates, beyond repair or not relevant to the local area. The leader of Falkirk Council, Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, said: "The council's museum collection is an important and much-loved asset that we have a responsibility to take care of for future generations." "It captures the history of the entire Falkirk Council area. "Currently, it's housed in a building that is completely unsuitable and we want to create a modern storage solution that will improve public access and our ability to preserve those objects." She said that officers' proposals to rationalise the collection would follow National Museums standards and were necessary "to ensure good collection management". Members of Falkirk Council's executive agreed to the proposal this week, but councillors added that they wanted to be sure the area's local groups would be offered items that they would find interesting. Michael McGuinness, Falkirk Council's head of growth, planning and climate change, told members that the review would be positive for the museum's collections and would allow them to see more objects "coming out of storage and being displayed in an environment that is suitable". He suggested that Falkirk's new town hall, which is still in the design stages, would be one place where items connected with the area's history could be displayed. Councillor Robert Spears what would happen if the museum service was to discard items that had been gifted and asked if schools, libraries and history groups might be able to use them? Mr McGuinness said the process for discarding items was "well-thought through" and approved by Museums Scotland. He said: "We will be looking at every single one of 36,000 items to determine their place within our collection. "This process is very much about protecting and securing the collection for the future." Items will be considered for disposal if they are duplications or do not represent the heritage of Falkirk district. But he acknowledged that some might find a more appropriate home at the end of the process. "So, that could be a school, it could be our new town hall, for example, or it could be another museum elsewhere in Scotland that has a more appropriate display collection." Members unanimously agreed the report with the SNP administration accepting Labour's request that there should be "a publicly accessible portal for local history groups to register an interest in specific historical interests/periods", which will enable them to be included in the consultation regarding items of interest. Cllr Meiklejohn added: "Once we have a clearer idea of the future of the collection requirements we can start to plan for a new facility to help us remove the risk currently posed by overcrowding and poor storage." She accepted Labour's amendment that will allow local groups to register interest in the collection. Labour councillor Jack Redmond said it was "really important that local groups and people are involved with this".
