Upload
tony-foster
View
213
Download
1
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
What do the residents of Kirknewton like, not like and would like to see in their village
Citation preview
A community participation exercise
carried out on behalf of Kirknewton Community
Development Trust
Hilton Associates February – March 2011
This project was supported by:
2
Contents
Kirknewton – an introduction ................................................................................................. 4 About Kirknewton Community Development Trust: ............................................................... 4 How this all happened: .......................................................................................................... 5
A message from Stewart McKenna, Chair of Kirknewton Community Development Trust. 5 Seeking local knowledge ................................................................................................... 6 Aim of the work ................................................................................................................. 6 Why participatory appraisal? ............................................................................................. 6
How it was done .................................................................................................................... 7 Who participated? ............................................................................................................. 8 Gathering the information .................................................................................................. 9 What people where asked: .............................................................................................. 10 What people think about the area .................................................................................... 10 Organising the information .............................................................................................. 11 Feeding back the information to the community .............................................................. 11 Cost and time .................................................................................................................. 12
What the community said about the area ............................................................................ 12 What’s great about the area? .......................................................................................... 13 What’s not so good about the area? ................................................................................ 14 What people would like to be changed or improved ........................................................ 15
Youth views ........................................................................................................................ 17 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 18 Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 20
Appendix 1: All comments: What people like .................................................................. 21 Appendix 2: All comments: What people don’t like ......................................................... 31 Appendix 3: All comments: Changes/Improvements ...................................................... 41 Appendix 4: Balerno High School 26 pupils 12 – 17 + Youths at Kozi Café under 15 ...... 56 Appendix 5: Kirknewton Nursery & Primary School ......................................................... 58 Appendix 6: Maps with recorded site specific comments and ideas................................. 67
3
Acknowledgements
Thank you to everyone in Kirknewton who participated by sharing their ideas and opinions that have made this possible. To Kirknewton Community Development Trust who enabled this to happen and have willingly given their voluntary time to support the work. Also to the collaborative working of the trust Development Officer, particularly in promoting the work through the media, social networking and a poster campaign. To the Big Lottery fund for supporting the work with an award to the trust. To West Lothian Council Economic Development for organising Ordnance Survey maps of the area. To the Community Council for the use of their community hall during the drop-in and feedback events. Without all this help and support, we could not have done all this work.
Copyright
Maps West Lothian Council Licence No. 100037194, 2007 ©Crown Copyright 2007. All rights reserved under West Lothian Council Licence. Process method & photographs © Vikki Hilton This report is a record of all the ideas people shared during the community engagement work.
For more information contact:
About Kirknewton Community Development Trust:
About this community approach:
Stewart McKenna (Chair) [email protected] or Tony Foster: Development Officer [email protected] http://www.kirknewton.org/
Vikki Hilton 3 Priory Grove South Queensferry EH30 9LZ [email protected] 0131 331 1523
The right of Victoria Hilton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with SECTION 77 OF THE COPYRIGHT DESIGNS AND PATENTS ACT 1988.
4
Kirknewton – an introduction
Kirknewton lies about 10 miles to the south-west of Edinburgh in West Lothian. The village has an estimated population of 16801 people over the age of 16. Recent population figures put the population at around 2000 people. It is close to the A71 and only five miles from Edinburgh by-pass and three miles from Livingston. Despite this it is surprisingly rural and because of its past history it has a wide variety of housing styles and ages. Today, Kirknewton is a changing community, with new houses being built and new people moving into the area. It is close to good road links and has bus and train services. This community development work was undertaken on behalf of Kirknewton Community Development Trust (KCDT) by an independent community facilitator. This follows on from work undertaken in 2007 to engage the community around sustainable energy projects and community benefits. The 2007 work engaged 167 people in sharing their ideas about renewable energy projects. For more details see http://issuu.com/isihamba/docs/microsoft_word_-_kirknewton_newsletter_report The current community engagement work is part of a Big Lottery technical assistance grant to enable the trust to develop their plans further for a bio-digestor and or related energy projects. This work was undertaken to ensure the wider community is involved in having a say about how community benefits are targeted and to help the trust and other local organisations apply for further funding and develop a community plan.
About Kirknewton Community Development Trust:
Kirknewton Community Development Trust2 is a local membership organisation. It is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. Membership is open to anyone who lives in Kirknewton and is over 18 years of age.
Kirknewton Community Development Trust aims are to: • Promote opportunities for learning and education • Encourage community-led development • Help and encourage local people to develop new skills • Promote protection and enhancement of the local environment • Promote energy efficiency in the home • Promote the use of renewable technology for generating electricity and heat • Relieve fuel poverty
The voluntary members of the local charitable trust established to manage these funds were keen to involve more local people in what should happen and to inform the planned community development plan and future funding applications.
1 Estimated population Statistics 30 June 2005, West Lothian Council
2 http://www.kirknewton.org/community_groups/community_development_trust
5
This report includes a summary of what happened during the community work, who was involved and what people said. At the end of the report, in the appendices, there is a copy of all the views and ideas people recorded.
How this all happened:
A message from Stewart McKenna, Chair of Kirknewton Community Development Trust.
Thanks to all those who took part in the recent Community Consultation, and here are the results. Who are we? We are Kirknewton Community Development Trust or KCDT for short. It’s a big name for a small group of seven volunteers who came together in 2006 through the Community Council to try and make a small contribution to reducing Kirknewton’s environmental footprint. We fought for “environmental justice” following the use of Kaimes Quarry as Edinburgh’s largest rubbish dump for 15 years between 1987 and 2002 despite the simple fact that Planning Consent have never been sought or granted. The outcome is that we have a community owned and registered charity (KCDT) with ideas and ambitions to make Kirknewton a better place and we have funds which we propose to invest in a renewable energy project that will deliver real benefits to our community. This consultation process builds on the earlier work undertaken in September 2007 which helped us to get to where we are today with lots more going on in the village. We have gone from 7 members to over 130 members all keen to improve and change our village. The drop-in event held on February 6th attracted nearly 120 people and the feedback sessions held in the Village Hall on Thursday 10th and Sunday 13th March attracted 74 people and demonstrated that there were members of our community who cared. Overall over 560 people took part. We will now use all your inputs to help us form a community development plan and we hope to arrange further meetings seeking your help and enthusiasm in developing your ideas for improving life in Kirknewton.
Anyone wishing to be notified of the date and time of the next meeting of our group should email [email protected] and put FEEDBACK MEETING in the subject line. Membership of KCDT is open to anyone living within Kirknewton and surroundings, so get involved – it’s your say, it's your community Thanks again, Stewart McKenna (chair)
6
Seeking local knowledge
A Participatory Appraisal (PA) approach was used which recognises the knowledge and values which already exist in an area. It is an informal, open, and transparent process, very often carried out by local people, and it is quite unlike most surveys and questionnaires. Participatory appraisal is about not making assumptions about what local people are interested in; it recognises their ability collectively to think about what it’s like living in the area, and to come up with their own solutions. At the start, no-one knew what would emerge – and that was important too. People on the committee have ideas but they really wanted to see what knowledge and ideas other people in the community had around renewable energy issues. The information in this report was gathered by the team of facilitators by talking with local people and recording everything that was said. In the end around 500 people shared their knowledge, ideas and opinions and over 2200 comments were recorded. This included young people from Balerno High School and 198 pupils from Kirknewton Primary School. In addition 74 people came to 2 feedback sessions on 10th and 13th of March. This provides a good picture of what these people think about the Kirknewton area and what could be done to make it a better place to live and or work. So now KCDT, and anyone else who has a good reason to be interested in Kirknewton, can use this information to take forward any ideas which have emerged. With your help the trust will drive forward your ideas which will help bring about positive changes and improvements and help make Kirknewton an exemplar village.
Aim of the work
The aim of the work was to ensure local views help KCDT to see how benefits coming to the community through investment in renewable energy projects in the area should be spent. It was also to help inform a community development plan to take Kirknewton forward ensuring that the plan is based on community knowledge and solutions. The work aimed:
• to reach as wide a cross-section of the community as possible in terms of age, gender and locality;
• to encourage people to share their knowledge, ideas, opinions and solutions about the issues for their community and how positive changes might be implemented.
Why participatory appraisal?
In order to understand how people feel about the area and find out what they would like to see happening, an approach was needed that would let people share their views about what they thought about the area, and make suggestions about what could be done to change or improve it.
7
Participatory appraisal recognises that the people who live in the community have the knowledge and experience to comment on it, and specifically encourages reaching out beyond the “usual suspects”. It encourages people to share their ideas and knowledge about life and local conditions. It tries to involve as wide a cross section of local people as possible, and make sure there is equal representation. This means that those whose voices are not often heard or valued – “the hidden voices” – are heard. PA recognises that people’s lives and ideas and experiences are different and sometimes complex. So it reaches out to as many members of the community as possible, and does not try to create averages or demand that everyone is the same.
A single comment may be highly significant and very useful. The use of visual methods enhances and encourages participation. These provide a structure, and act as a focus for discussion and analysis. If you would like to know more about this method of working, contact Vikki Hilton of Hilton Associates3 All the outcomes in this study are based on what people have said, and we have recorded them all as important. Please do read all the comments in the appendices.
How it was done The community development participation
exercise was promoted through flyers inserted in the local Konect magazine which is delivered to all householders in Kirknewton. Lots of posters were also put up on lamp posts, at local businesses and left at public access places. It was also promoted through email, facebook and twitter. It was also promoted through West Lothian Council facebook which had 15,306 members and though Love West Lothian twitter which has 1363 followers. In addition there was an article in a local newspaper promoting the work. The work was carried out collaboratively by Vikki Hilton who specialises in community development approaches and methods and KCDT, particularly working with Tony Foster, the Development Officer. The Development Officer was new to the project and keen to make links into the community so led on the promotional working contacting organisational representatives and leading a social networking campaign to alert people to the work. This was the local nursery, high school, primary school, Kaspers (after school club), Community Association, Community Council, Development Trust, Gala
3 3 Priory Grove, South Queensferry, West Lothian, Scotland. EH30 9LZ. [email protected]
8
Committee, Kosy Kafe, Parents Council, Parent Staff Association, Scottish Rural Women’s Institute and the West Lothian Clarion, Church, Pensioners. After the initial link the facilitator followed up by telephone, email and or meetings.
Who participated?
The team spent several days working in the community encouraging local people to share their ideas and opinions about the area. This started with the drop-in event on Sunday 6th February 2011. At this event over a 100 people dropped by to share their ideas. This was a fantastic level of interest The team spent several days including mornings, afternoons, and evenings during the week as well as at weekends walking around the village knocking on doors to ensure a wide range of people had a chance to share their ideas. People also participated by email, facebook and telephone if they were unable to meet face-to-face. The team tracked the age range and numbers of people who were talking to them, to make sure that that all age groups were involved. They also checked that they were meeting a range of people that were close to the population spread of the area.
9
Everyone who participated put a dot on a map to show where they lived and a tick to show what age they were. This was to make sure that a wide range of people, young to older, women and men from all over the area were reached. The charts above show the range of ages who participated. They do not include the 198 primary and nursery children from Kirknewton Primary School who also participated. The map shows the wide spread of people who took part in different parts of the village. Each dot represents a household. By the end over 560 people had participated with a good range of ages and a fair geographical distribution. This shows enormous interest within the community and is evidence of the increased awareness of KCDT and interest in what is happening in the community. It also shows people have a real interest in being involved in improving Kirknewton as a place to live and work in. In the work carried out in 2007 there was far less awareness of the Trust and then 167 people participated in the community engagement work.
Gathering the information
This work was carried out from the beginning of February 2011. The kick-off event was a well-advertised drop-in event at the Community Hall in the High Street on
Saturday 6th February. As part of this the Development Officer and Facilitator went to the local church service to promote the drop-in and also join the coffee morning where people were able to share their views. Overall 120 people participated on the 6th which is a fantastic level of interest for the community. The work continued with the team out and about in the area on several weekend and week days knocking on doors to ensure a
wide range of people participated. This was a way of making sure people who had not heard about the work or couldn’t get to meetings also participated. They also worked with groups including: Kosy Kafe – Parent and Toddler Group – Play group – Kirknewton Primary School –
Balerno High School – Community Hall Committee
10
Everyone’s participation was recorded by age and gender and where they lived to ensure we reached people living in all parts of the village. In total just under 500 people participated with a further 74 people coming to 2 feedback events in March. The team used a visual diagram to ensure openness and no pre-determined closed questions. These are open methods that enable people to share the ideas and solutions they have to what it’s like in the community.
What people where asked:
People were asked:
What’s it like living / working in
the Kirknewton area? They were asked to rank how they felt from 1-10 with 10 being great and then to think about and record:
1. What’s great about living in the area? Makes it a good place to live?
2. What gaps/ barriers are there currently for you in the community? What’s not
so good about living in the area?
3. What would make Kirknewton a better place to live in? & why?
This approach and method is different to surveys and questionnaires with pre-defined questions. It encourages people to focus and reflect on the issues that are important to them.
What people think about the area
Not everyone wanted to record how they felt about the area. However 184 people were happy to record how they felt and the diagram above shows that the large majority of them were positive about the area. We didn’t ask the primary school children or high school young people this question because of the way their meetings were done.
11
Organising the information
All the ideas people shared meant that a vast amount of information was amassed and it had to be managed in some way. There were over 2200 comments as well as drawings from some of the primary school children. Every comment was recorded and some strong themes emerged from them. The team had also gained some initial impressions of what ideas were emerging and these helped to confirm the main themes in discussion with the development officer. Whichever way the information was looked at there might have been different ways of categorising it. You may see different themes but what has emerged, in the end, we are confident give a good impression of what the people of Kirknewton think are important issues. All the recorded comments are in the appendices. The young people at Kirknewton Primary School and Balerno High School shared their ideas and these are summarised on pages 16 to 17 with details in appendix 4 and 5.
Feeding back the information to the community
One of the features of Participatory Appraisal is to give prompt feedback to the community; this was done in several ways during March and April.
• At a KCDT evening event on March 10th where the Development Officer led a short presentation and discussion, 30 people took part.
• At a drop-in event on Sunday 13th March from 10 am to 5pm, 44 people took part.
Feedback was also given at the Meals and Wheels event at Kirknewton on March 26th; over 300 people turned up and all the material was displayed. Electronic feedback: In addition the Development Officer added details to the Kirknewton Facebook and ran a blog on twitter to feedback information. In April 2011 there were 206 facebook group members and 28 followers on twitter at twitter.com/kirknewtonEH27. Feedback information has also been put on http://kirknewton.wordpress.com/ and 656 people were recorded opening it.
12
On average 50 people open development trust emails and people also get the latest information at www.kirknewton.org/latest/news- The results were also promoted via the West Lothian Council Facebook page with 15,306 members There is also this report and a brief summary report will be will be distributed throughout the community in KONNECT. In addition copies will be available electronically, on CD-ROM and on the KCDT website.
Cost and time
Direct costs to KCDT were around £900.00 which covered the cost of promotion for 2 campaigns. This included commercially produced posters and flyers, adverts in local publications, sundry items, flyers through the school and hall costs with catering for 2 events. This did not include the time cost of the development officer or the facilitator. The process has taken from the initial meeting at the beginning of January to the end of April; further work bringing the community development plan together using this report as a basis will be completed by the end of May. What now This information will be used to develop the community plan and assist with funding applications as well as providing a good basis for understanding the community needs and aspirations.
What the community said about the area This section is a summary of what people most liked about the area, things they didn’t like so much and things they think will improve life in the area. What people said is summarised in diagrams and discussed on the following pages. All the comments people made are in the appendix which people are encouraged to read. The appendix includes maps where site specific comments are noted; these are in addition to the comments and relate to specific areas in the village. They all make a fascinating read. The diagrams below help show the main themes and the proportion of comments overall. The summary highlights the top 6 categories and the diagrams show the proportion of other comments.
13
What’s great about the area?
1. Location People clearly liked living in the area, valuing the position close to Edinburgh with good links to the airport, main roads and major towns but not in the city. They liked the feel of being in a rural area, the quietness and senses of safety. They commented on the friendliness and good neighbours with a good community spirit. 2. Facilities and activities People appreciated the shop and post office and the things that went on like the playgroup, toddler group, the Gala. However it is noticeable that there were almost the same number of negative comments as positive and twice as many comments in this category about changes and improvements. This is a topic people talked about in 2007 and clearly has not improved radically over the last 4 years. 3. School People liked the schools in the area and it was noted as a reason people come to the area. Someone did say there were “Too many houses and new developments for the school and therefore uncertainty of getting a place”. 4. Public Transport This again was an interesting area of discussion. Many people commented on the good public transport service, both bus and train and noted the “improvements over the last 20 years”. Someone also recorded that “the “Train station makes for a good place to be”. 5. Walking and cycling It’s a good place for walking with easy access to outdoor activities such as hillwalking according to some people.
14
6. Park People commented on the park with most knowing that it was in the process of being upgraded which people felt was good. It was also noted as safe These highlight the 6 most recorded things; there are lots of other comments which are in the appendix. What should be noted is that people also recorded that they were “very impressed with the Trust” and the “potential of and uniting contribution of the development trust”.
What’s not so good about the area?
1. Facilities and activities The main theme here was the lack of facilities and activities for people of all ages. There was particular concern over lack of things for teenagers and young people but also as someone said “There doesn’t appear to be much to do for all ages in the village. A community centre would be useful for activities and as a meeting place – no café nearby and the pub is not attractive to many people.” 2. Public transport There were a lot of comments about the “poor bus service” and “unreliable” bus service with bad links. Someone else said “bus service appalling, can’t live here without a car. There were fewer comments about the train service but people still felt there was a need for more evening and weekend services. Comment was made about the poor links with Balerno. This was also highlighted by the high school students who called for a weekend service to maintain their links to friends as the catchment high school is Balerno. People living in the Burnwynd and Linburn areas had real concerns about the poor bus service because of issues over where the bus would stop. This made relying on
15
the bus for getting to work was impossible and had an economic impact. During the winter it was particularly bad and dangerous because of having to walk along an unlit road with no path. Someone said it was impossible to rely on the bus service for work due to the hours it ran i.e. not early or late enough. 3. Traffic management There were a lot of concerns over the congestion on Main Street and issues over parking and lack of speed controls. People were concerned about the speed of traffic through the village. 4. Appearance People talked about areas looking scruffy and run down, particularly in the Kaimes area where issues over road and pavement maintenance are causing problems. People commented on the amount of litter and would like to see more effort made to keep the village clean and a smarter appearance. 5. Park People commented on the park needing to be improved but also acknowledged that there were changes about to take place. Some people thought that there should be a park in the Kaimes area as it’s a long way to go to the park. Also not enough in the park for older children. 6. Dog issues There were the usual concerns about dog mess and the need for more dog bins. In the primary school some of the children highlighted that the pavement from Hillhouse Wynd was particularly bad.
What people would like to be changed or improved
16
1. Facilities/activities This was clearly the area most people wanted to see changes in and there were lots of suggestions. These included suggestions for
• More facilities for teenagers, skate park and some sort of lighted area near the football goals, clubs, drop-in café with internet
• An ATM in the village
• A social space to meet (there was also a specific category for a café which links to this issue)
• More services in the village i.e. doctors surgery
• Village pub doing food/coffee There are lots more ideas in the full list in appendix 3. 2. Traffic management There were lots of suggestions for managing the traffic in the area to deal with the particular concerns of speeding traffic and traffic congestion on the Main Street. People also mapped their ideas which can be seen at the end of the report. Some were complex one-way system others included:
• Speed bumps – with some specific suggestions recorded and some mapped
• Disabled parking on Main Street for the Post Office and shop
• Limit speed on winding roads near Kirknewton
• Electronic speed signs
• Limit speed to 20mph in some areas
• Yellow lines to restrict parking Many of the suggestions will be controversial and it will obviously be useful for more community engagement work to be done before any changes are made. 3. Public transport People wanted a better, reliable bus service someone said “First Bus tries your patience and your purse”. There were also suggestions for an improved service to Balerno and also weekends. People had ideas about a local “sprinter” bus between local communities. As the library and health services are not based in Kirknewton people without cars rely on the buses to access these services. People in Burnwynd and Linburn wanted the bus stops sorted out so the buses stopped locally not a mile up the road. Particularly with aging communities the buses may end up being their only way to access shops and services. The impression is that if you are not in a hurry the bus service is good but if you rely on the service for work it’s not so good. 4. Park People were looking for park improvements so it will be interesting to see how people evaluate the changes taking place in April / May 2011. However some of the things suggested are not within the current improvements such as a skate park, improving the goals, having lights for evening access in the winter 5. Walking and cycling Improving access for walkers and cyclists with signposts as well as routes linking local communities was called for. People also suggested measured walks for
17
walking groups which could be used by everyone. People in Linburn and Burnwynd also wanted the roadside pavements improved or created for safe walking. 6. Community Centre People were asking for a new community hall, because the present on is not big enough and not always available. They also suggested it could be used for a variety of social activities, even having the café – social space – people thought the village really needed. Someone said “good to have a centre all ages can use” and “new community centre open for the young and elderly alike, available for private functions to make it more viable”.
Youth views
Below is a summary of what the high school students and the primary school students think about the area. Further details are in Appendix 4 and 5. Balerno High School 26 pupils 12 – 17 & youths at the Kozi Kafe under 15 The facilitator met with 26 high school pupils in their lunch break. There was a great deal of discussion particularly around the lack of facilities for their age group. They recorded 67 points; there was a strong push for a skate park that they would like to be involved in designing as well as a better bus service that would enable them to maintain social relationships. This is a key as Balerno High School is the local High School and public transport links are poor. All the ideas were put on the wall – see the picture below. They discussed the importance of the ideas and decided that:
The Top Priorities were:
• Improved bus service
• Skate Park
• More entertainment for children Older students at Balerno High School said they would be interested in “helping in the community”; “being involved in change” and “interested in helping other people”. Some of them are already on facebook and were following what was going on. It was clear that they were keen to be involved in changes and opportunities should be encouraged for community volunteering.
18
Kirknewton Primary School
At the beginning of February Tony Foster, Development Officer and Vikki Hilton, Facilitator were invited to talk to the whole school at Friday morning Assembly. Tony told the young people what was going on with the “I love Kirknewton” big idea. Vikki then asked the young people to think about the things they really like, don’t like so much and changes they would like to see happening. They were asked to talk about, and write or draw their ideas in class then the pupil council meeting the following week and worked with the facilitator to share all the ideas. This
picture shows the ideas the representatives bought to the meeting. Below are the top priorities after all class representatives had shared their classes ideas bought to the Pupil Council. After listening to everybody they decided as a group that the following were the top priorities – see picture �. All the ideas they bought to the council meeting are in appendix 5 pages 58 - 66 to show that the ideas came from all the pupils. Number of votes of School Council in brackets 1.Cafe (with burgers), ice cream cones, or ice cream van in summer (4) 2.Bus timetables so don't cross & make traffic jam (3) 3.Dog bins all over i.e. especially Main Street, Kaimes, Park (2) 4.Trees (1) 5.More activities i.e. Football Team, BMX Trax, Skate Park (1) 6.Youth Group (meeting place)
Further Information
We would strongly recommend that you read all the comments. You will find them in full in the appendix. There will also be copies of the reports available through Tony Foster, in the library and on the KCDT web site.
Conclusion The KCDT group now has the opportunity to use your ideas to take forward opportunities and projects locally. It was clear from the comments people made and working in the area again after 3 years that the village had more of a “buzz”. There are more events and the Village Gala Day has restarted.
19
People talked about improving walking and cycling routes and KCDT has already started working with various organisations and carrying out a paths audit, with community help, to improve paths. In addition things that do not fit within the trusts role will be passed onto the relevant parts of council and other organisations. Look out for updates on how this work is being used and for more meetings and/or information events. We have uncovered an astonishing amount of information which makes for interesting and useful reading. It is an excellent starting point for developing the community development [plan and can be used by other community organisations as well as the trust to target funds and apply for additional funds to support local initiatives. We are confident and pleased that, as a result of this exercise, even more people know about KCDT and have a chance to share their issues, ideas and opinions about life in the village it is part of a long term process of involving the whole community in “Growing Community Assets” and helping promote and ensure long term benefits. This will also help inform the direction of the community development plan and provide support for taking community ideas forward. Several things emerged that will need to be revisited to continue this process: 1. People talked a lot about the park which is in the process of being revamped. As
part of the revamping the local community was asked for their opinions in autumn of 2010. Given the amount of interest in the park and park improvements and further suggestions arising from this work it would be useful to carry out an evaluation of park changes in about 6 months’ time.
2. There were lots about lack of facilities and activities to do locally. This can have an effect on health and well-being and sometimes lead to isolation socially and mentally. It would be useful to have an audit of exactly what is available and when. Consideration needs to be taken of the needs of different age groups to ensure different needs are met.
3. Young people in the village want to get involved and targeting working with them to develop some of their ideas and community ideas would be a very positive move.
4. Creating a social space; people were concerned that there was nowhere for people to meet. Whether it be parents of young children wanting to meet up whilst children attended groups, young people wanting a space to meet, new people in the village wanting to meet other people. It is an important part of a community to have spaces for social interaction. A café was called for, the pub to create space for coffee, a community centre that was also a social hub. A dedicated community space is a long-term solution but there may be short term solutions building on suggestions made by the community.
20
Appendices
Appendix 1: All comments: What people like Appendix 2: All comments: What people don’t like Appendix 3: All comments: Changes/Improvements Appendix 4: All comments: Balerno High School 26 pupils 12 – 17 plus Youths at Kozi Café under 15 Appendix 5: All comments: Kirknewton Nursery & Primary School Appendix 6: Maps with recorded site specific comments and ideas
21
Appendix 1: All comments: What people like (647 comments recorded)
LOCATION - 390 • A real community
• A village not in a town
• Access good to Livingston & Edinburgh
• Access to Edinburgh & Livingston
although bus service timings &
availability could be improved
• Access to Edinburgh & M8 corridor but
still relatively unspoiled
• Access to Kirknewton House grounds
• Accessible to Edinburgh, Glasgow,
Livingston road & rail
• Accessible to Edinburgh, Glasgow,
Livingston road & rail
• all right
• all right
• An increasingly mixed & balanced
population with growing sense of
community
• Away from hustle & bustle
• Away from hustle & bustle
• Beautiful village
• Beautiful walks
• Being out in the country
• Born & bred here it's all I know like it
• Burial grounds
• Can get involved in the community
• Central Scotland location, close to all
major road networks, linking to
Edinburgh, Glasgow, → M74, lake
district, M9 → Aviemore etc
• Chance to see the agricultural seasons in
action sheep, cattle etc outside the
window. Good & fertile soil.
• Cheaper housing than central Edinburgh
• Children can play outside safely. It's a
good place for families
• Close community, safe environment for
young children.
• Close enough to Edinburgh
• Close enough to Edinburgh
• Close knit community
• Close to big cities
• Close to countryside nice places to walk
our dog
• Close to countryside/walks amenity
• close to Edinburgh
• Close to family
• Close to hills but handy for Edinburgh
• Close to nature
• Close to the City
• Close vicinity to Pentland Hills &
Edinburgh
• Closeness to countryside
• Community & friendly.
• Community Development Trust has
worked hard to raise profile & noticed a
difference in last year with more things
happening. Occasionally call into its
office & would volunteer but have
limited time.
• Community environment
• Community feel about it
• Community is good a lot of nice people
• Community spirit
• Community spirit
• Community spirit
• Community spirit & it's getting better
over last 2-3 years with more
community events like the Gala (really
good).
• Community spirit, especially around
involving the school
• Community spirit, people look out for &
help each other
• Community vibe
• Commuting to work in
Livingston/Edinburgh easy with
proximity (unless using public transport)
• Convenient location for work & access to
all major roads north, south, east &
west
• Core of a community
• Countrified see horses walking the
streets
• Country walks
• Country-like
• Dalmahoy Hill
• Dog walking opportunities
• Easily commute to work in Edinburgh
• Easy access to Edinburgh & Livingston
22
• easy commute for anywhere but still
enough away not to be burdened with
city noise and hassle
• Easy commuting for jobs
• Easy to get to Edinburgh on public
transport, close enough to Edinburgh to
cycle to work, so it's got more
affordable housing.
• Easy to get to other areas e.g.
Edinburgh & by-pass
• Easy to get to other areas e.g.
Edinburgh & by-pass
• Easy to get to Pentlands, canal & Ratho
Climbing (airport & motorway handy
too).
• Enjoy countryside, air is cleaner
• Environment, fields/rural areas
• Even though it is close to Edinburgh &
Livingston, it feels remote from the
cities and a safer place
• Everyone knows each other
• Everyone knows everyone
• Everyone's friendly
• Fairly quiet area
• Family
• Family (lived all my life 45 years)
• Family has lived in the village for over
100 years - bit of history
• Family ties
• Fantastic being so close to countryside;
great walks & to get out with kids &
dogs
• Feel safe walking home at night
• Feeling of being rural, but close enough
to Edinburgh & Livingston to get to work
• Feeling people want to help each other
• Feels relatively safe
• Feels rural but access to urban areas
good mixture of everything
• Feels safe for kids
• Feels very safe
• For kids going for walks
• For kids in general
• Friendly
• Friendly
• Friendly
• Friendly
• friendly
• Friendly
• friendly
• Friendly
• Friendly community
• Friendly neighbours
• Friendly neighbours
• Friendly people
• friendly people
• Friendly place generally. Get to know
people and can rely on them.
• Friendly place to live, definitely a
community spirit
• Friendly/have made very good friends
here
• Friends
• Friends, very helpful people
• Generally pleasant area
• Good access
• Good area for walking
• Good community
• Good community
• Good community feel, friendly village
• good community feeling
• Good community spirit
• Good community spirit
• Good community spirit
• Good community spirit
• Good community spirit
• Good community spirit
• Good community spirit
• good country walks
• Good facilities: shop & Chippy
• Good for kids growing up
• Good links to city & airport
• Good mix of population
• Good neighbours
• Good neighbours
• Good neighbours
• Good neighbours
• Good neighbours
• Good neighbours
• Good neighbours
• Good neighbours
• Good network of people
• Good place for commuting & transport
• Good place to have children
• Good public transport at the moment
• Good road access
• Good sense of community
• Good sense of community
• Good sense of community
• Good sense of community
23
• Good situation between Edinburgh &
Livingston, good transport connections
• Good travelling distance between
Edinburgh & Livingston
• Great area
• Great area
• Great area
• Great view
• Green belt around
• Green like being in country but near
town
• Green space/country living
• Handy for Airport
• Handy for Edinburgh
• House prices are lower than Edinburgh
• House prices, young people can actually
afford houses in West Lothian & village;
therefore we have made friends with
many other young couples.
• however village is in a peaceful rural
location, open countryside, close to
Pentland Hills park and West Lothian
Almondale country park etc
• I am quite happy as I am
• I like the fact that it is in the
countryside
• I like the strong friendly community
feel. I like the fact it feels a safe place
to bring up children & they can play
outside freely.
• I moved here from Edinburgh but love
living here, more freedom for kids,
wouldn't have that in the city.
• I think it is a very good place because it
is small and very safe.
• In the country
• In the country & not too far from
Edinburgh & Livingston
• In the country but accessible to town &
facilities
• In the country more freedom for kids
• Isolation
• Isolation
• It is safe environment for kids to live in,
there are plenty of opportunities to get
close to nature
• It isn't a big city, it is just a small
village because I know everyone and it
isn't busy that is what I like
• Its central with easy access (road and
train) to E,W,N and S
• It's good that a lot of new
housing/people have expanded the
community
• It's quiet so our kids can play on our
street.
• It's quiet, peaceful, there's no real
worries and it's a close community.
• It's small enough to walk to anywhere
else in it!
• its small, surrounded by accessible
countryside walks, woodlands, rivers etc,
including farms
• Kids can run about in relative safety
• Kirknewton is a very nice village
• Knowing our neighbours
• Like being out of town
• Like being out of town
• like it as it is
• like it as it is
• Like living here
• Like living here
• Like living in the country
• Like living in the country but easy to
commute to Edinburgh
• Like the area – except for traffic from
A71 am/pm
• Like the community
• Like the environment, reasonably rural
• Like the size of the village & fact it
hasn't merged into others
• Like walking out of front door to fields
• Lived away from Scotland for a number
of years & chose to live here because
it’s cheaper & good for kids.
• Lived here all my life
• Lived here all my life, don't know
anything different
• lived here all my live
• lived here all my live
• Lived here for years & brought kids up
• Living in country away from city life
• Location
• Location
• Location - commuting to Edinburgh
• Location for working
• Location useful for working/commuting
to Riccarton
• lots of green areas
• Lots of green space
24
• Lots of likeminded people
• Lots of walks in area Selmuir Forest &
around Leyden Road
• Lots of young families
• Love it here
• Love Kirknewton lived here all my life
(70 years) nice quiet place with no
vandalism to talk about
• Lovely feeling of community
• Lovely in Braekirk area
• Lovely open countryside
• Lovely views, peaceful countryside.
• Low crime rate
• Lower crime area
• many people don't know where the
village is, this means not many people
drive through our village centre
• More neighbourly in recent years lots of
changes, partly because of kids &
meeting each other through them.
• Neighbours really nice
• Never thought of moving away
• Nice & quiet
• Nice & quiet, no trouble
• nice and easy access to countryside
• Nice community
• Nice community feel about it: meet lots
of people friendly - PO, shop, toddler
group
• Nice community feeling about the place
• Nice neighbour
• Nice old buildings too
• Nice place to bring up children
• Nice place to live & everyone friendly
• Nice quiet village why we chose to move
here 30 years ago
• Nice size of village
• Nice to be out in the country, the views
of the Forth Estuary are excellent
• Nice village
• Nice wee village
• No problems as live here & work in
Edinburgh don't use village
• not a lot of noise or trouble
• Not a lot of trouble
• Not bothered by neighbours
• Not crowded with people
• Not far from
Edinburgh/Livingston/Airport
• Not in built-up area
• not much trouble
• not much trouble
• Not much trouble
• Not too far from town & shops
• OK area, but I'm just about to move out
of area, so don't want to comment.
• OK area, but I'm just about to move out
of area, so don't want to comment.
• Old Quarry
• Open fields
• Open space
• Open space
• Open space for children & lots of places
to go walks or cycling
• Out in the country
• Out of city so good for raising young
kids
• Out of city so good for raising young
kids
• Out of town
• Out of town
• Out of town
• Overall it's a good community to live in!
• Overall, there have been so many
changes for the better over the 36
years we have lived here
• Part of small community
• Peace & quiet
• Peace & quiet
• Peaceful
• peaceful
• peaceful
• Peaceful
• Peaceful & quiet
• Peacefulness
• People
• People acknowledge each other & stick
together as a community
• People are friendly, the community is a
nice size, not too big, not too small
• People are good speak to each other,
look after each other
• People are nice
• People friendly
• People friendly & helpful
• Proximity to Edinburgh
• Proximity to facilities in Livingston,
especially the hospital, and also to a city
of Edinburgh's calibre.
• Quiet
25
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet
• Quiet & no problems. Like it the way it
is
• Quiet area in country but good access
to work
• Quiet but getting busier (20 years been
here)
• Quiet countryside around & great views
northwards
• Quiet cul-de-sac
• Quiet enough
• Quiet location Semi-rural position with
some open countryside nearby (at the
moment!).
• Quiet not much trouble
• Quiet not much vandalism
• Quiet place to live plus safer for the
residents especially children
• Quiet small community, quite active
community groups
• Quietly
• Quietness
• Quietness
• Quite a good community feel not like a
big town. Knowing neighbours & having a
good circle of friends.
• Quite a nice community
• Really small nice creative community
• Relatively peaceful
• Relatively quiet & peaceful walking
straight from the house good
• Rural
• Rural
• Rural
• Rural
• Rural
• Rural
• Rural area which we enjoy yet still close
to Edinburgh/Livingston for amenities &
job opportunities.
• Rural location
• Rural location
• Rural outdoor network/horses
• Rural site with good transport links
• Safe
• safe
• safe
• Safe area for children plenty of safe
areas to play (Although, other than Park
which is far away & over a road no areas
specifically designed for child's play
area)
• Safe place to bring kids up
• Safe village
• Safe village to live in
• Safer for kids as not in a city
environment
• Semi-rural situation (at the moment!)
• Sense of community
• Sense of community - & it is getting
better
• Sense of community a lot of friends &
colleagues working together
• Sheep & cows & farmland
• Sheep & cows & farmland
• So much on the doorstep
• Sociable community with lots of
informal groups for fun/childcare
• Some really good people in the village
• Still a village
• Still a village
• Superb views from Kaimes
• Superb views from Kaimes
• takes getting used to – lived in
Edinburgh
• takes getting used to – lived in
Edinburgh
• Teenagers running around but not being
horrible just being kids
26
• The community spirit
• The countryside, the views, the walks
• The fact that it's out of the City
• The fact that it's out of the City
• The history i.e. Roman remains
• The people in the village are nice
• The school is a close distance walk!
• The street we live in has lots of children
which is good.
• The village is quiet
• The woodlands & fields surrounding the
Policies
• there appears to be no crime or drugs
problem and people in the main are
friendly
• there are no shops or traffic jams
• Towns not too far away
• Very accessible, Livingston & Edinburgh
good location
• Very friendly
• Very friendly
• Very good community particularly in
Braekirk
• Very good size excellent feeling of
security
• Very little traffic noise
• Very little vandalism
• Very safe
• Village a nice size
• Village atmosphere
• Village community good to see drive to
making this a better place to live
• Village events e.g. Gala, Torchlight
procession etc
• Village feel
• Village feel, everyone's very friendly
but also can work in Edinburgh
• Village is a quiet place to live, little
crime & trouble
• Village life
• We have the best of every world
• We like living in Kirknewton because it is
a village and has a rural feel although it
is equally near Edinburgh & Livingston.
• Wee village
• Within close distance to activities of all
types
• Wonderful place to grow up
• Woods @ back, field @ front (B/L
• Wouldn't move anywhere else
WALKING & CYCLING - 22 • Access to Wellwood Estate - delusions
of grandeur to have access
• Beautiful walks
• Can walk everywhere
• Children riding bikes on pavements is
very dangerous for walkers
• Easy access to outdoor activities
hillwalking etc
• Easy to cycle commute into Edinburgh
for me
• Enjoy walking & would be interested in a
group
• For kids going for walks
• Fresh air & walks
• Good local walks from door
• Good place to walk dog
• Good place to walk dog
• Good walking with small child
• Important to have somewhere for
teenagers & high school pupils, though
they are not a problem.
• Lots of nice walks
• Lots of places to walk/play
• Lots of walks
• Surrounding very walkable countryside
including Kirknewton House Policies
• Walk the dog fields & woods
• Walks
• Walks
• We love being able to access local woods
& fields & enjoy walking & cycling in the
area too
.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT - 39 • Better bus service sometimes not on
time
• Better now because of buses
• Bus good service half hourly
• Bus good service hope it carries on
• Bus links to Edinburgh & Livingston are
now better than when we first arrived
• Bus service fine when it turns up
• Bus service often have to wait
30minutes 1 hour. Sometimes it misses
27
Kirknewton if weather bad
• Bus service OK
• Bus service OK
• Bus stops on Main Street
• Bus/train service to Edinburgh & beyond
• Buses & trains improved over last 20
years
• Buses 2 an hour is good
• Easy commuting Bus & Train
• Excellent public transport
• Good bus service
• Good bus service suits me if I need it
• Good public transport
• Good public transport links served by
bus & rail
• Good train station
• Good transport bus & train
• Good transport infrastructure
• Good transport link
• Good transport links (buses & trains) to
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Livingston & Balerno
• Good transport links to Edinburgh &
Livingston (rail & bus)
• Good transport links, rail & bus
• Got bus & train links, so good
• Handy having a railway station nearby
(although the service can be erratic)
• Public transport
• public transport vastly improved
• railway station and bus routes good
• Train access to town (although limited
timetable)
• Train link is very valuable & buses too
• Train link to Edinburgh good (husband
cycles from East Calder to station)
• Train service is OK
• Train station
• Train station make for a good place to
be too
• Trains & buses: easy to get to Edinburgh
& Livingston
• Useful having access to railway station
RECYCLING - 2 Think food waste recycling is a good idea Think food waste recycling is a good idea
LOCAL FOOD - 1 Pending allotment space
VEGETATION - 2 Community wood planted by families Good public open space
COMMUNITY CENTRE - 4 Village hall is great facility for the
community
Community hall
Village Hall done up & used more profitably
i.e. things for wee boys
Improve the Village Hall or get a new one
FACILITIES/ACTIVITIES - 89 • Access to amenities & shops in
Livingston
• All amenities shop excellent
• Area in Kaimes (see map) improve & tidy
up & make it an area safe for kids to
play.
• Children's Cosy Cafe on Friday good
thing
• Chip Shop
• Chip Shop
• Close to East Calder for Rhyme Time at
Library
• Close to good shopping
• Coffee shop or somewhere for lunches
able to socialise in village without having
to go to say Livingston. Suggest
somewhere in corner of park as lots of
land, or building near school. (see map)
• Convenience of an (excellent) village
shop, PO, pub
• Dalmahoy Leisure Centre is nearby
• Dancing classes
• Easy proximity to amenities (Livingston,
Edinburgh, Library & Dr. @ East Calder
etc)
• Everything on doorstep
28
• Excellent shop, PO & pub
• Festival shop good for essentials & was
great when village snowed in owner very
helpful.
• Fish & Chip shop fish supper quite nice
• Fish & Chips is good
• Gala Day
• Garden
• Glad we've got a shop
• Good Chippy like to support local
business
• Good clubs in village hall
• Good event in the Park sustainable
transport
• Good local shop & PO
• Good local Shop & Post Office
• Got a PO and village shop
• Groups & societies
• Groups e.g. toddler group for new mums
• Groups i.e.: Playgroup, Rainbows &
Brownies, Dancing, Caspas etc.
• Important to have somewhere for
teenagers & high school pupils, though
they are not a problem.
• Improve the Village Hall or get a new
one
• It's good that we have the Post Office
lot of villages have lost there's
• Kids’ activities/playgroup/toddler group
• Library Bus comes to Kaimes Place every
2 weeks (good for children's books)
• Like the pub
• Little things like parcels can be left @
PO to pick up if not at home
• Local & nearby churches
• Local school, PO etc.
• Lots of groups for young children
• Maintaining & building on village e.g.
good the Gala has come back.
• Mobile library
• Nearby medical practice and district
hospital both good (+ delivery of
prescriptions)
• Nice community, lots of space, shops are
good, Cafe
• No dental surgery so have to go to East
Calder Medical Centre OK if have car
bus times have improved.
• Play Group at Village Hall good
• Play Group at Village Hall good
• Playgroup
• Playgroup & mother & toddler group
• PO
• PO
• PO
• 'Potter Around'
• 'Potter Around'
• 'Potter Around' have open night
• Pub
• Shop
• Shop
• Shop
• Shop
• Shop
• Shop & PO
• Shop & PO
• Shop & PO good
• Shop & PO very good
• Shop & Post Office
• Shop & Post Office are a bonus
• Shop & Post Office are really close
• Shop is excellent: clean & well ordered
• Shop pretty well stocked
• Shop, PO wouldn't like to see them close
• Shop's clean, variety of stuff, & staff
friendly
• Size of a village: close to shop & PO
• Some activities to do with: they are for
younger children(e.g. 'Potter Around',
Saturday dance class)
• Sort the water supply at the cemetery
so it can be used
• Still has PO and local shop
• Summer Gala
• The semi-rural nature of the village
• The shop is handy!
• The shop!
• The village Park, School & village Hall
are all assets used by us all.
• Use some of empty spaces in Kaimes for
play park e.g. behind houses
• Village Hall done up & used more
profitably i.e. things for wee boys
• Village just up the road
• Village shop good
• Village shop will get things in & does
things for the community
• Wednesday evening daughter goes to
Taekwondo in Kirknewton - good
• Wee shop is great
29
• Well stocked local village store & post office
PARK - 21 • Better Park to keep us content
• Big play park
• Fab to have a park (& will be even better
once upgraded)
• Good doing the Park up
• Good doing the Park up
• I know the park will be done up & will
then use.
• Improve park new football goals
• Other small parks as now have bigger
population possibly in field & waste
ground between Kaimes & railway.
• Park area could be more of a hub & build
on what is in village.
• Park being done up will make it better
• Park getting done up great
• Park good
• Park is a safe park
• Park is being revamped (good to look
forward to)
• Park is going to be better
• Park, though I think it's going to be
done up
• Parks good & woods nice for walks
• Play park
• Play park
• Play park aware it's to be improved
• Play park is being upgraded
SCHOOL - 39 • Balerno has good High School
• Buddy system in school so when around
in village less likely to have bullying - can
walk up the road & everyone looks out
for each other.
• Excellent school
• Extend or build new school as
oversubscribed priority for those living
in village
• Good friendly school
• Good nursery/primary school and in
Balerno High School catchment area
• Good Primary & Secondary Schools
(Kirknewton & Balerno HS)
• Good primary school
• Good school
• Good school
• Good school
• Good School/Nursery
• Good schools
• like the school
• Local School is very good
• Lovely Nursery & Primary School
• Mums& Toddlers, school great for kids
• Primary school
• Primary School has a good reputation &
feeds into Balerno
• Primary school has good reputation
• Primary School is excellent
• Primary school within walking distance
• Priority for school places should be for
those already living here.
• School
• School
• School
• School
• School
• School & catchment for Balerno High
School
• School a lot of life in the village centres
around it
• School is fantastic
• School not capable of expanding with
the community
• Schools
• Size of school not adequate for all new
housing
• The local school
• The school is excellent
• Toddler group
• Too many houses & new developments
for school therefore uncertainty of
getting a place.
• Within the catchment of a highly rated
school (Balerno)
APPEARANCE - 13 • Pub hanging baskets • West Lothian Council is good at picking
30
up litter.
• It's pretty & lots of open space
• Face lift with tidy fencing who has
responsibility? (Kaimes)
• Landscape area behind Kaimes also
other grass areas as Council won't adopt
& householders don't do their bit to
look after.
• Looking a bit run down (overall general
comment)
• & contractor to manage, (originally? 15
then? 30) but not everyone paid up &
now neglected.
• Ground behind Kaimes not cared for as
don't know who owns it.
• Grass areas behind Kaimes & other
areas in scheme are left as wilderness.
Tenants used to pay factor
• Grit needs to be cleaned up
• Public areas & roads, car parks not
maintained broken bits of cement.
• Street cleaning not as good as could be
• Wheelie bins there can be 30 left in car
park
LOCAL ECONOMY - 2 Can work from home Konnect
DEVELOPMENT & PLANNING - 1 West Lothian Council do quite a good job
KCDT - 10 • Establishment of Community
Development Trust keen to find out
more about what they are doing.
• Fantastic Trust initiatives like the A. D.
Plan (Anaerobic Digester) & the
Powerdown
• Good that we have a Development Trust
• I like and appreciate that there seems
to be a strong initiative towards
supporting the Community Development
Trust.
• Like the opportunities being given to us
to improve our village & become greener
through the Community Development
Trust
• Potential of and uniting contribution of
Development Trust
• Promoting sustainable development
• The Community Group is looking at green
energy, something we are passionate
about
• The Trust
• Very impressed with the Development
Trust
MISCELLANEOUS - 12 • Animals & sheep
• community council, KCDT, allotments
committee, parents group etc getting
people together and putting thoughts
into action
• Good C of S church will excellent
current Minister
• I have a car so OK
• Kirknewton Facebook good way to find
out about things on-line
• Level crossing & accidents don't know
what's happening & how it will affect
the village • Not sure
• Nothing particularly
• Tap at Cemetery is locked so can't get
water need to get water from the river
which is very dangerous.
• Useful to follow on Facebook & Twitter
• Wildlife
• Wildlife
31
Appendix 2: All comments: What people don’t like (381 comments recorded)
LOCATION - 12 • Get the feeling that 'beyond the railway
line' is not automatically included in
Kirknewton
• I think the main divide in this
community is between the 'locals' and
the new residents. I also think this
centres round the public house where
the locals use and I think having spoken
to a friend who moved out that there's
a culture up the pub that many
newcomers don't know about or are
willing to explore. The opposite is also
true for the locals, not partaking in
many new things which the newcomers
bring into the community • In days of old, everyone used to
celebrate Gala Day with communal
BBQ's etc. • Not enough incentive for adults in the
community to know their neighbours
• Cliqueness
• 'Forgotten Village' on edge of West
Lothian
• It's become a commuter town
• Lack of integration between village
people & new people
• Not as safe a close-knit community as it
used to be worse at night. Youngsters
hanging around.
• Not as safe a close-knit community as it
used to be worse at night. Youngsters
hanging around.
• Seen Kirknewton grow & develop but
new people are not integrating use it as
a commuter village, Those from new
developments don't get involved in
Church
• Village has lost its character
WALKING & CYCLING - 12 • Children riding bikes on pavements is
very dangerous for walkers
• Cycle route 75 as exists is highly
dangerous from East Calder junction
through the village & along Dalmahoy
Road
• Difficulty to get anywhere on bike ride
without negotiating very busy road
• Improve signing for public walks/paths
• Lack of maintenance of footpath Haggs
Road – too dangerous
• No obvious walking paths
• No pavement to Kirknewton from
Linburn Road
• Not the most thought out walking
routes
• Path up to airfield branches/trees years
ago could walk up with pram. It was dug
up for Cable TV & not been re-tarred.
Cars go too fast here too.
• Paths inaccessible in & out of the village
• Paths/cycle tracks limited
• Pavement Dalmahoy to Wilkieston non-
existent – safety, very dangerous
PUBLIC TRANSPORT - 65 • Although bus has improved, still limited
bus passes villages e.g. can't get to
Balerno & Broxburn nor Royal Infirmary
have to go via East Calder. LRT used to
go through & was better than First Bus.
• Appallingly bad public transport links
• Bus links only 1 bus that serves the
village
• Bus service not reliable
• Bus service unreliable in evenings &
doesn't link to health centre/library
• Buses only accept exact change plus no
bus tracker unlike Lothian Buses
• Expense of train & bus
• No bus service i.e. 5 mile to nearest bus
stop
• Poor public transport
• Poor public transport available especially
32
later at night with no buses available
after midnight. Public transport, it's
expensive - cheaper to drive.
• Poor public transport to areas such as
Balerno/Ratho (which are in school
catchment area)
• Public transport is available, both buses
& trains although still not reliable
enough. Buses are still late & cancelled.
Wish more people could be persuaded to
use it rather than drive.
• Public transport is unreliable &
expensive (both bus & train)
• Public transport to Livingston/Edinburgh
etc. is very expensive
• Public transport, buses terrible
• The bus service is not very good and
there is no access to other local
communities (i.e. Balerno, Broxburn,
West Calder etc.).
• Train service infrequent & expensive
• Train times could be improved upon
particularly in the evening
• Transport more buses are needed to run
through the village. At the moment the
service is awful i.e. buses not turning up
or running late.
• Transport more reliable buses the First
Group not responding to the
comments/complaints
• Unreliable bus service
• Very limited public transport to Balerno
limitation for Balerno High School pupils
doing out-of-school/after-school
activities & maintaining friendships can
exacerbate a 'ghetto' & ' them & us'
thinking
• Poor bus service
• Some restricted travel train times
• Bus service poor
• Poor bus service
• Better bus service sometimes not on
time
• Better bus service would be good
• Bus can be poor service
• Bus fares and times - £2-70 single
• Bus not very frequent & in bad weather
non-existent
• Bus service - better than past but
occasionally don't turn up can wait 1
hour, even not just bad weather.
Dependent on bus for large/heavy
shopping & need to go to supermarket
for most things as cheap - local is
expensive.
• Bus service appalling can't live here
without a car
• Bus service often have to wait
30minutes 1 hour. Sometimes it misses
Kirknewton if weather bad
• Bus service pathetic (one in family can't
drive) stand for ages & can't rely on it
• Bus service poor
• Bus service rely on it for work. 28 to
Livingston - first bus is at 7.15am some
mornings have to be in for 7am so bus no
use don't have access to a car to get to
work (father has to drive)
• Bus service unreliable
• Buses - 28 - don't always come up to
village, & when they do some of
passengers already on bus complain they
have to come via Kirknewton.
• Buses don't always turn up, especially in
winter, people missing doctor & hospital
appointments, losing jobs. First Bus have
a monopoly. 'The Forgotten Village'. A
problem if don't drive, no car or elderly.
• Buses don't come on time and only 1 an
hour on Sundays when comes
• Buses not awfully reliable
• Buses not regular Sunday service
• Cost & frequency of buses e.g. Lothian
buses cheaper than First which serve
Kirknewton
• Cost of bus service
• Cost of bus, can't even take kids to
Livingston 80 pound for monthly bus
pass to Edinburgh 2.70 single to
Edinburgh
• Cost of train and bus
• Depend on lift for After School Club
• Needs linked up public transport
• No transport for After School @
Balerno need car to pick-up
• Not able to get to work in the morning
with a bus as need to get to St Johns &
buses not early enough
• Nothing for teens & they have to rely on
public transport to go anywhere
33
• Poor bus service
• Poor transport only one bus an hour at
weekends
• Public transport not so good: irregular,
sometimes don't turn up. Used to work
in town & used buses but not reliable 2
years ago
• Public transport poor i.e. blind so rely on
it to go weekly to hospital
• Snowed in for 5 days buses & trains not
running
• B/L Buses stop @ Wilkieston &
Dalmahoy but not @ Burnwynd
• B/L Don't want to leave the area but
transport access is an issue (20 houses
& had petition 36 signatures)
• B/L Family – disrupts as can't get a bus
in & out of town
• B/L Last 2 1 / 2 years Police made law
that Bus does not stop. Used to stop at
farm. First Bus, Horsburgh. It's a Police
issue
• B/L Poor access to public transport for
Burnwynd residents (73 & 78)
• B/L Poor bus connection
• B/L Safety issue of no bus stop in
Burnwynd – in winter in the dark had to
walk 1mile +
• B/L Withdrawn bus service -economic
impact. Daughter will no longer come
home in holidays as can't get a job
relying on bus
RECYCLING - 2 • Glass recycling • Lack of recycling facilities
VEGETATION -1 • Trees close to the house afraid it will fall on house
CAFÉ -2 • Coffee shop or somewhere for lunches
able to socialise in village without having
to go to say Livingston. Suggest
somewhere in corner of park as lots of
land, or building near school. (mapped)
• no cafe in village
COMMUNITY CENTRE- 7 • Limited Community Centre facilities
• One small village hall limits what groups
can be developed e.g. no real base for
youth over weekend • Small Village Hall only used by one user
at a time needs Community Centre
• The current Village Hall is no longer
adequate for the villagers' needs
• Village Hall is great but a little small for
community events
• Improve the Village Hall or get a new
one
• Village Hall done up & used more
profitably i.e. things for wee boys
DOG ISSUES - 25 • Animals fouling on paths
• Careless dog owners who don't clear up
on paths & Play park
• Cat & dog poo is health danger - toxic
• Cat poo - need to check for it before
children can go in garden
• Dog dirt - pavements
• Dog fouling
• Dog fouling
• Dog fouling and graffiti/vandalism spoils
some of the common areas
unfortunately
• Dog fouling on pavements
• Dog fouling on pavements
• Dog mess
• Dog mess in lots of places
• Dog mess over back by railway
• Dog mess over back by railway
• dog muck found in most streets
• Dog muck is a real problem there is too
much of it around the village and it
reflects badly on the owners.
• Dog poo
• Dog poo
34
• Dog poo
• Dog poo
• Dog poo up the area from Whitemoss
Road - problem with leaves covering it &
can't see the dog poo; periodically
cleared but soon gets covered up again
• Dog’s dirt on pavements could be
anywhere. There are bins but is people's
ignorance. A real problem for young
children & getting it on pram wheels -
not sure how to resolve.
• Dog's dirt
• Inconsiderate dog owners not cleaning
up
• more litter bins/dog bins needed
FACILITIES/ACTIVITIES - 84 • Although in WLDC boundary, local
authority support & action , spending
etc. is to say the least, rather negative
• Community Centre/Cafe internal
meeting place
• Could be more for older kids to do
• Despite the Pub, Post Office & Shop
existing, there is no other gathering
place such as a tea-shop/restaurant,
which tends to isolate the community.
• Facilities limited
• Fear of using pub
• Few gathering places/spaces for all ages
• Footpaths outwith village centre poorly
marked/non-existent
• Health Service part-time clinic?
• I don't think that there is enough for
teenagers & adults to do in the village
• Kids play facilities limited dated
• Lack of any restaurants
• Lack of community facilities (often
promised never delivered!)
• Lack of facilities in Park.
• Lack of resources for children &
teenagers.
• Lack of use of Village Hall for
classes/pastimes etc. e.g. Tai Chi/other
classes
• Limited public services
• Little to interest teenagers or older
children
• Local amenities are too expensive e.g.
Shop
• Local pub appearance of building & noise
level at times encroaches on personal
space feel this could be improved upon
considerably!
• Local pub not particularly inviting
scraped paintwork & no name
• Maybe a more active Youth Club,
something for teenagers need to get in
care & drive to East Calder or Balerno
• Mobile phone & broadband connections
poor
• Most activities I take part in are
outwith the village and I would not be
able to attend without a car.
• No cubs/scouts
• No doctor
• No gym facilities in the village
• Not enough amenities e.g. no cash
machine (free), no chemist etc.
• Not enough for older kids
• Not enough for teenagers, they need
things to occupy them
• Not enough for the older children to
do/keep occupied
• Not enough kids having fun any more
• Not much going on in the village for all
ages
• Nothing for children aged 10-18 and as a
consequence there are groups of these
children roaming Kirknewton annoying
certain parts of the village
• Nothing in the village for the kids
• Nowhere for teenagers to hang out
• Poor facilities for all ages
• Poor facilities for teenagers & children
• Pub frontage
• Teenage activity
• Teenagers tend to get bored & then
vandalise equipment etc.
• The shop is expensive
• The village has grown & this has brought
huge benefits to the community in
terms of new people, families etc.
But.......there does seem to be a problem
with young people, 10-16, being
occupied/having somewhere to go in the
evening.
35
• There doesn't appear to be much to do
for all ages in the village. A community
Centre would be useful for activities
and as a meeting place (no Cafe's nearby
and the Pub is not attractive to many
people).
• There is a growing number of children in
the area from ages 10-15 and there's
nothing in the village for them to do,
hence they just wander the streets
most evenings. Having a Community
Development Programme in the village is
this not something they can look at
providing i.e. a youth club, flood lights at
the Park for evening games?
• There used to be a visiting doctor's
surgery East Calder Health Centre is
increasingly busy a more village-based
centre would be good
• Too much of a commuter village feel,
needs more facilities
• Village lacks a pleasant facility for
socialising with friend’s e.g. pleasant
local pub
• Youth inclusion/activities
• 16yr olds not is school, nothing
• areas of unused land, many pockets in
between Kaimes estate, residents have
huge car parking problem so
redevelopment of land for their use
• Chip Shop
• could be a lot more
• Facilities in Kirknewton diabolical
• I rely completely on my car for
transport to work, social activities, big
shops and most hobbies, also health
care, doctors in East Calder
• Important to have somewhere for
teenagers & high school pupils, though
they are not a problem.
• Improve facilities
• Lack of activities for teenagers i.e. no
clubs, scouts etc.
• lack of amenities in village centre and
'village' feel and identity of street
furniture
• Leisure facilities a joke
• Limited community facilities
• local pub is rubbish
• Need to be things for the teenagers
• Needs a good family pub with beer
garden
• No dental surgery so have to go to East
Calder Medical Centre OK if have car
bus times have improved.
• Not a huge amount for the children out
of school
• Not a lot for kids to do
• Not a lot of facilities
• Not a lot to do, can get bored easily
• Not much for older children & teenagers
• Not much for young ones
• Nothing for kids to do
• nothing for teenagers
• Nothing for young ones
• nothing for young people, no local jobs
• nothing happening, new houses built but
no increased facilities
• Nothing really
• Pub too clique
• public transport to go into Edinburgh or
Livingston for night time social
activities
• Summer worse for young people when
other gangs come
• Things for 11-16 year olds. We need a
youth leader or a teen group to plan
things for themselves - there is money
around as seen in the Funding Fair.
• To play football you have to go to
Murieston
• Used to be a whirlie thing in the park
which went
• Village getting by for services
PARK - 26 • Better Park facilities but that's to
come soon
• Park area underused
• Park but it is being improved
• Park has been lacking in upgrades so this
new Par improvements will be good.
However other facilities are lacking for
teens especially the School is also
bursting at the seams. The community
spirit has been very lacking but it is
improving all the time with initiatives
such as this.
36
• The Park is not as good as I'd like &
doesn't have any objects for older
kids/teenagers to go on!
• Would have said the Park, but very glad
to see that community action has forced
the Council to make a move on that.
• Improve Park (on-going)
• Long way to play park from Kaimes
• Park not so good
• I know the park will be done up & will
then use.
• local park boring for 12 yr. old
• Long way to play park from Kaimes
• Orange gravel @ Park need to clean Park
• Other small parks as now have bigger
population possibly in field & waste
ground between Kaimes & railway. (map)
• Park area could be more of a hub & build
on what is in village.
• Park grounds too wet
• Park lets the place down but they are
doing it up
• Park not so good
• Park, though I think it's going to be
done up
• Paths in park to be improved
• Play park but pleased its being dealt
with
• 'Pond' that developed in Park is a
hazard, especially very young children
• some park stuff is vandalised
• The Park
• Use some of empty spaces in Kaimes for
play park e.g. behind houses
• Older kids don't have much to do in the
Park
SCHOOL - 13 • Decent surface in School playground
• Local School at/beyond capacity
• School is already too small for people
who wish to attend it.
• School/Nursery oversubscribed
• Extend or build new school as
oversubscribed priority for those living
in village
• Kids didn't get into the Primary School
as it's full
• No wrap-around care @ School effect
on those who want to work
• Primary school oversubscribed
• Priority for school places should be for
those already living here.
• School not capable of expanding with
the community
• School too small due to new housing
• Size of school not adequate for all new
housing
• Too many houses & new developments
for school therefore uncertainty of
getting a place.
APPEARANCE - 39 • Area in Kaimes improve & tidy up & make
it an area safe for kids to play.
• Cleanliness: dog dirt/broken glass
• Council doesn't both to do much up here
grit not cleared. Kaimes area there is
query over ownership. Roads falling to
bits & we pay our Council Tax.
• Council never do anything for here a
forgotten corner nothing cleaned up for
2 years garage area never swept in 2
years (see map)
• Eyesore outside pub & cigarettes left
out
• Face lift with tidy fencing who has
responsibility? (Kaimes)
• Grass areas behind Kaimes & other
areas in scheme are left as wilderness.
Tenants used to pay factor & contractor
to manage, (originally 15 then 30) but
not everyone paid up & now neglected.
• Grit comes after the snow has come
• Grit not cleared up from snow gets in
house
• Ground behind Kaimes not cared for as
don't know who owns it.
• I feel some parts of the community look
neglected & people/residents/home
owners obviously struggle to maintain
inadequate fabric of buildings and
parking areas i.e. in Kaimes. Good family
sized accommodation but constructed
from poor materials who is going to pay
37
to improve this?
• Kirknewton sign at east end of village
has 'r' & 'v' covered up so now reads
'Please die slowly' I don't want to die
slowly!
• Landscape area behind Kaimes also
other grass areas as Council won't adopt
& householders don't do their bit to
look after.
• Litter
• Litter in & around village
• Litter, fly tipping & general untidiness
• Local pub in poor condition
• Looking a bit run down (overall general
comment)
• Looks tatty got tattier
• Noisy standing outside pub & brings
down the tone & standard of village
• None
• Not clean
• Not kept as clean as used to be
• Parking areas in Kaimes are messy
• Poor cleanliness, communal grass doesn't
get cut Council don't clean up as dispute
on ownership.
• Several areas of the town are scruffy &
poorly maintained. Lots of small & large
areas of land are filled with litter &
waste, even very close to the village
centre. Not enough care is taken to
make the town more aesthetically
pleasing, a specific example is the old
bus left rotting away at the local
garage? Roads in/out of Kirknewton are
also scattered with litter. The local pub
doesn't appear to have a name? Looks a
bit scary too. Road sign on way into
village appears to say 'Please Die
Slowly'!
• Some parts look a bit run down
• Some parts of village never get swept
by Council
• Street cleaning not as good as could be
• Streets need cleaned up after snow
• the car parks in Kaimes are getting very
dangerous children play about in them
and the council workers who go about
lifting litter off the roads and
pavements should go to Specsavers as
they do not do a very good job
• The whole village could do with a deep-
clean; parts of it are filthy, mainly on
the two private estate patches.
• The whole village could do with a general
tidy, housing areas scattered with
general rubbish
• Unsightly broken down buses in garage
on main road
• Various public places in the village that
are very unkempt, in particular the area
at the bus stop on Main Street opposite
Meadowbank Road. I've done a bit of
research on this piece of land & it would
appear that it's the responsibility of
the residents of the Kaimes Estate to
maintain this area
• West Lothian Council is rubbish in
regards to services they provide -
bigger than what they want to deliver
• Wheelie bins there can be 30 left in car
park
• Within Kaimes estate a lot of
unmaintained areas (hard
standings/grassed areas) which always
seem to have no clear info on
responsibility
• Would like to see the effort here that's
happening at Blackridge/East Calder
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - 42 • All the cars particularly Main Street
• Area by rail crossing doesn't feel safe
7-8 trains an hour (not all stop, some
are freight)
• Buses in Main Street
• Busy road
• Busy road running past school too much
traffic
• Car parking in Main Street & near school
at pick-up time
• Cars drive through village too quickly
• Concerned about the waste of money
making an underpass because of human
error when people won't want to walk
through it
• Congestion down at the School
• during snow no bus service, no cleaning
of roads, isolated
38
• Hugely busy around Main Street areas
at times an accident waiting to happen
• Inconsiderate drivers/parking
• Level crossing & accidents don't know
what's happening & how it will affect
the village.
• Main Street & traffic nightmare going
from top end of village down
• Main Streets lots of parked cars
• Needs traffic calming measures
• No disabled parking in Main Street
• No safety mechanisms (flashing 30 sign,
sleeping policemen etc.) coming into
village both sides
• Parking bad
• Parking in the Main Street
• Parking in village
• Parking is dreadful throughout village
• Parking near school at drop-off & pick-
up time nightmare for buses
• Parking not being able to park outside
the house
• Parking on main road & vehicles couldn't
get through in snow
• Parking problem
• Parking some people have 3 or 4 vehicles
& commercial vehicles so can't get in &
out of garage (Kaimes)
• Petrified of crossing @ railway twice in
2 years barriers been up when train
came through
• Rail crossing is still very poor as well
• Road outside the School in the mornings
is a nightmare with people parking
• Seems more dangerous for children
going to school when all the cars are
parked be better if they walked
• Since the new traffic lights were put in
on the A71 traffic in the village has
increased
• Some of the footpaths are too narrow &
unsafe, although it would impact on
traffic (but slow cars down!!) - they
should be widened.
• Too many heavy lorries using as a by-
pass
• Too much village traffic/congestion
• Traffic in the village roads too narrow
• Traffic is too fast
• Traffic on A71!
• Traffic through the village too fast,
particularly pas airfield
• Traffic travels too fast throughout
Kirknewton. The speed bumps at the
School have very little effect. The
entry & exit routes need good speed
bumps & signs displaying drivers' speed
are needed. Drivers pick up speed
driving out past Hillhouse Terrace &
then past Hillhouse Wynd
• Unnecessary to spend all the money on a
tunnel it's not the crossing, it's the way
people use it
• Years trying to get lollipop person by PO
to make it a safe crossing here
LOCAL ECONOMY - 4 • Lack of affordable childcare presents
many parents working.
• Broadband speeds are slow by all
network providers
• Poor radio signals mobile/TV/poor
internet speeds.
• Slow Broadband/lack of complete cable
coverage
DEVELOPMENT & PLANNING - 9 • Bins out the front of the houses on Main
Street makes it difficult with buggies
dangerous having to use the road
(double buggy & dog)
• Danger of over development planning
applications for areas inevitably will lead
to increased population, traffic etc.
• It's grown too much
• Live opposite area where proposed
underpass will be started leads to top of
agricultural land. Probability land in
between used for development
• No gas in all houses
• No houses available
• Not sufficient social & affordable
housing
• People can't get houses
• Some areas need developed to improve
39
appearance & safety (in terms of access
for elderly & disabled) e.g. area at bus
top opposite graveyard & parking areas
& grass boundaries within Kaimes
housing scheme.
MISCELLANEOUS - 38 • A lack of visibility of the police within
the village. I have yet to see the
community officer on the beat in any
regular certainty.
• More community policing & police
awareness for the kids. Police need to
make presence aware, especially with
the new Park. Police to be pro-active
with teenagers.
• No Police presence
• No Police presence - Police based in
Broxburn which is too far away Guy with
knife @ house for 20 minutes but half
an hour before police came
• No Police they only come during the day
when kids not around.
• Bus stop near the graveyard bad (the
police know it’s a bad spot)
• Lack of police presence
• Air quality often poor smelly & airborne
dust/dirt
• Distributed rather than nuclear village
• Had to fight tooth & nail to get gritting
at the top end of Braekirk Avenue
• Need to get more individuals involved in
community projects same faces at all
meetings
• Not a huge amount of things for kids &
adults to do
• Not a lot of political interest
Kirknewton is on the fringe of West
Lothian possibly stronger links
perceptionally with Edinburgh
• Old stayers & newcomers (dormitory
town) split community
• Progressively becoming too busy for
existing infrastructure
• Street lighting out for some weeks
• Too many committees/interest groups
lacking a bit of focus which actually
delivered something
• Vandalism & groups of youths in small
square next to Chip Shop. They play
football there & jeer at me when I come
& go from my house. Footballs damage
my property. Nothing done about this.
This colours my views
• Can't really say
• Grit needs to be cleaned up
• Grit used in winter gets into house.
Should sweep up grit & reuse.
• It took 3 days for tractor to get down
to Kaimes from main road had to dig
ourselves out lots of complaints were
put on Facebook.
• I've lived here all my life (over 32
years). I'm not interested because the
incomers weren't here when the waste
was dumped & now they want to take
over with the compensation money &
change for themselves. We had to live
with it. Newcomers come because it's
cheaper than Balerno but they don't
give you the time of day & don't give
way in the village with cars.
• Kids a nuisance burnt my hedge last
year. Seem to want to vandalise.
Vandalised what is already in Park &
concerns about new things to be put in &
how they will be looked after.
• Needed to take about 2 week’s holiday
because of snow of last 2 winters. The
way cars were parked stopped services
getting down to Kaimes.
• Not able to get out for 3 days over
winter slopes & ice. This affects
people's working life. Snow plough piled
the snow up round the cars.
• Older Primary kids & some High School
kids hanging out in the square near the
Development Trust, drinking & smoking
• Parking issues on-going but especially
when snowing. Frequent double parking
on Kaimes Crescent especially at night
time means it's a hazard. Bin lorries
can't get down.
• Primary School kids in Graveyard -
playing football. Climb on old grave.
Throw flowers out of bin. Get 'cheek'
when approached.
40
• Public areas & roads, car parks not
maintained broken bits of cement.
• Roads in Kaimes area not managed well
when there was snow.
• Sort the water supply at the cemetery
so it can be used
• Tap at Cemetery is locked so can't get
water need to get water from the river
which is very dangerous.
• When come into the village, it is a hill at
either end need salt out quicker in
winter
• Boy racers on road to Kirknewton
• Flooding on Haggs Road from Burnwynd
along Dalmahoy Road – floods frequently
& means a big circular route to High
School
• Main gas supply runs down road but
refuse to connect us
• Noise of traffic on main road
41
Appendix 3: All comments: Changes/Improvements 610 recorded
comments
LOCATION – 5 • Kirknewton has an excellent location and
not enough is made of this!
• Nothing
• We moved her 2.5 years ago and just
love living here there is an amazing
community feel, good communication
network with fb/connect, perfect rail
network and the pub has always a
friendly environment for a wee dram at
the end of the week!! Keep up the great
work for the Kirknewton Community and
thanks for everything to date.
• We're fine, have a car & able to get
where we want to for things not in
village
• Wouldn't want Kirknewton to get any
bigger
WALKING & CYCLING – 44 • Access for walking & cyclists could be
improved
• Access path up Newlands way which
would give circular route Stables way &
Ormiston, should be linked if they want
to be part of our community, with
sensor lights on the path to save energy
by being solar powered. Paths don't
have to be expensive could be whindust
which is local to Ravelrig Quarry.
• Alternative to wheelie bins in Kaimes
there's lots of steps up & down to
houses so they're left on path so no
room for walking, buggies & small
children on bikes & scooters. Suggest
communal large bins put into parking
area separate for recycling, especially
with the new food waste recycling due
to happen. They would be quicker to
empty.
• Better access to safe cycle paths
• Better signs & access to local country
walks, especially to connecting local
features like Dalmahoy Hill, Balerno,
Pentlands etc.
• Bike paths Kirknewton to East Calder
• Can the tractor path be used next to
farm which goes under A71?
• Create signposts for country walks
• Cycle lane by School but people parking
what's the point of it if it can't be
enforced for cars not to park
• Cycle paths linking the outlying housing
areas i.e. Ormiston, Newlands, Humbie
etc.
• Cycle paths, extend rural paths
• Cycle routes from the village suitable
for children in particular to link with
Almondell Country Park
• Encourage walking to school
• Enforce no parking outside the School
to ease traffic problems in the morning
maybe set up a Walk to School system
which may bring people together &
strengthen the community.
• Farmers: put up a notice about which
areas can be used to walk across land
• Foot/cycle path connection to Pentland
walks
• Footpath at side of road out of village
to Linburn Road (see map)
• Improve facilities: cycle paths, paths
wider & open up pathway opposite
Ormiston Farm for cycling/walking
• Improve path up to airfield (see map)
• Keen cyclist more off road paths/cycle
route to Edinburgh
• Make the most of what we have info
about local walks, places of interest
• Measured walking routes for Walking
Group
• More community activities for all ages
e.g. cycling tracks/trails
• More cycle & walking paths
• More footpaths, paths through the
farmland
42
• More people to walk instead of using car
in the village
• More walking paths would be good
• More walks
• Path access so people up Newlands way
can be part of the community
• Path from village to Almondell Country
Park could be more walker friendly &
better for children (and bike path).
• Path improvements (see map)
• Paths around village to encourage
walking/cycling
• Rural network of paths around the area
for hiking & cycling made more
accessible (i.e. a path to Dalmahoy Hill
etc.)
• Safer road crossing for pedestrians
particularly children walking to/from
school
• Seating in the village to encourage more
people to walk more
• Some paths impassable around the
village
• Walk/cycle way
• Walking group idea sounds really good
• Walking/cycling paths/network wildlife
areas to be indicated - lots of buzzards
etc.
• We could try & formalise some of the
informal footpaths around the village
• Would like to join a walking group want
to keep active
• B/L Make pavement safe & clean • B/L Pavement from A71 Linburn to
Kirknewton (Top Priority) • B/L State of Haggs Road
PUBLIC TRANSPORT - 58 • A more reliable AFFORDABLE bus
service. First Bus try your patience!! and
your purse.
• An improved train service would be good
i.e. more running later trains back from
Edinburgh etc.
• Better bus service
• Better bus service sometimes not on
time
• Better bus service unreliable put on a
wee Sprinter
• Better bus service unreliable put on a
wee Sprinter
• Better bus service, more frequent &
starting earlier only 7.15am -11pm
• Better public transport more frequent &
cheaper may result in fewer cars &
congestion
• better train services
• Better transport
• Better transport wouldn't have to drive
to work
• Better transport wouldn't have to drive
to work
• Better/more public transport more
reliable bus & train service
• Bus
• Bus link to Balerno: increased service as
only 2-hourly. Suggest the Lothian bus
44 could go to Kirknewton, then Ratho &
become 48 & pick up route to Edinburgh.
• Bus service could be better 28 has
issues often late particularly 'rush
hour'
• Bus service has improved over the years
but still not so good don't stick to the
timetable. Need to make sure it waits
for the right time at the beginning of
the village.
• Bus shelter near School needs side
panels to keep wind out
• Bus shelter near School needs side
panels to keep wind out
• First Bus contract withdrawn & given to
a reliable provider plus regular checks
made on their performance
• I really believe more public transport is
essential to ensure happier residents. I
don't want to take my car to work but I
have if I want to get their & back in less
than 3 hours I only work 12 miles away
in Edinburgh city centre!
• improve bus service
• Improve regular buses especially Sunday
• improve transport – difficult to get
from KN to Broxburn
• Improved bus service e.g. differing
routes other than to Edinburgh City &
Bathgate e.g. to go to the Gyle
• Improvements to public transport
(Balerno/Ratho) outside school hours
• Later buses or trains think last from
43
Edinburgh is 11.30pm. 27 bus to
Livingston could be diverted.
• Link up bus service so could get to East
Calder (don't drive, mum at home) i.e.
Medical Centre. Currently stops at top
end & have to walk quite far with 2
children 2 & 4.
• local small bus connection between
Kirknewton, East and Mid Calder and
south to Balerno and Currie
• More buses at peak-time to & from
Edinburgh
• More frequent bus & train service would
improve carbon footprint as public
transport would take more passengers.
• More parking, bus times linked to train
times; fulfilment of village (ESO)
dreams and plans
• More public transport would make it
easier for people to get in & out of
village
• Need more buses to get to local
amenities
• need more frequent bus links with
Balerno – high school children
• People need to know more about what's
going to happen with the changes at
level crossing with public transport put
info in Konnect
• pram friendly buses
• Public transport from here to Balerno
e.g. for evening classes
• Revamp whole structure of bus & should
be regular (High priority)
• Something like the Post Office bus
• Train service to Glasgow that doesn't
take 1 & quarter hours
• Train times could be improved upon
particularly in the evening
• Train: improve services
• transport into Balerno for high school
pupils to visit friends and social events
• transport links with Balerno only come
2/3 times a day – 424 need a timetable
• Try to get First buses to accept change
and get them to issue live updates or
become more reliable
• Would be good if Lothian buses served
the village (extension of 48 or 44
service) as less expensive than First Bus
• Would like a Lothian bus from
Kirknewton e.g. to Livingston as First
bus is rubbish
• Better public transport
• Better train & bus service train should
be more than once an hour. Bus has
improved but often runs late.
• B/L Bus stop reinstated @ Burnwynd on
A71
• B/L Bus stop reinstated at Burnwynd
• B/L Improve bus service so can catch
near Burnwynd
• B/L Joiner @ Burnwynd employs people
& there's no bus service
• B/L Paintball has to pick people up from
bus stop but won't stop closer, but
would be more convenient if stopped
closer to Paintball
• B/L There is no layby coming out of
Edinburgh at Dalmahoy and buses stop
but refuse to stop at Burnwynd using
excuse of there being no layby
• B/L Clarity over the 28 bus, stopping @
Linburn Road end – one going into
Edinburgh but not on the way out
• B/L Improve bus service so can catch
near Burnwynd - lit bus stop
RECYCLING - 9 • A local exchange for goods (like
Freecycle but local) would be good to
reduce waste or things going to tip if
others could put these to use
• Better recycling facilities
• Glass recycling bins
• Glass recycling bins
• I really like the bio energy idea
• Library/book swap in Hall once or twice
a week to swap books
• More recycling facilities
• Recycling for glass in the village
• System of exchange Freecycle for
surplus good
LOCAL FOOD - 16
44
• Allotments
• Allotments
• Allotments
• Allotments good as well
• Allotments idea good too place where
locals can buy locally grown produce
• allotments please, many new-build
houses with small gardens – would also
increase community spirit and pride in
our village, promote food sharing
• Community gardens/allotments would
greatly improve this community
• Confirming allotment space & more
space for interested residents &
school/nursery to be involved
• Fair trade cooperative
• Farm at railway could sell produce would
be great
• Food co-op
• Improvement to neglected areas (could
areas that are currently unused & land
ownership unclear be used for
allotments by residents?)
• In summer a weekly market for sale of
local produce
• Local food information suppliers buy
locally
• Surplus food, garden stuff barter
system
• Try to encourage more people in food
production maximise soil's fertility
VEGETATION 15 • A renewed focus on the wood that was
planted adjacent to the playing field
tidy up paths, plant bulbs etc.
• A village-in-bloom project
• Bring in some summer planting in the
village
• Generally tree planting to enhance the
area, village & surroundings
• Grass areas could be prettier, like at
bus stop on Hillhouse Terrace, area
behind bus stop opposite cemetery
• Main Street lacking in colour e.g. a few
hanging baskets on lamppost or similar
e.g. space at Pub & at Festival shop
• Make more of flowers, plants to make
the village more attractive planters
outside the shop/on Main Street
• Maybe some floral decoration would
cheer up the Main Street
• More trees planted around to hide the
railway. Farm at level crossing end re
planting trees
• More trees planted look after village
wood
• More trees planted look after village
wood
• More woodland
• 'Sense of arrive' into village & plant
daffs on verges on approaches into
village
• Signage of footpaths & general signage
in area points of interest e.g.
conservation village
• The banks along the burn could be
greatly improved nettles & other weeds
have taken over
•
CAFÉ - 16 • A Cafe for everyone to congregate, with
filled rolls for passing trade, Smoothy
makers & healthy services for kids &
adults alike somewhere funky & up-to-
date nice decor, Pannini's etc.
• A cafe somewhere to meet friends
• A cafe, even a couple of days a week,
serving lunch ...Village Hall?
• A central meeting place/Cafe
• A small Cafe lots of parents drop kids
off at clubs which only last half an hour
• cafe – somewhere to go that not
outdoors
• Coffee morning to meet & chat e.g. good
for those widowed, or people on their
own still active & don't feel old enough
for pensioners group. Not sure where to
put it.
• Coffee shop open during day (1-3 or 4
pm) with buggy space & toys, possibly at
'Potter Around' but as off beaten track
best in village - Village Hall?
45
• Coffee shop or somewhere for lunches
able to socialise in village without having
to go to say Livingston. Suggest
somewhere in corner of park as lots of
land, or building near school. (see map)
• Coffee shop somewhere for mothers to
go during the day with kids
• Community Cafe
• Community Cafe, providing a place to
meet
• My youngest child who is 5 comes to the
village hall on a Saturday. The class
lasts just over half an hour & could do
with a Cafe to go & sit, as time you
would go down the road, time to come
back.
• Nicer social place than pub maybe Cafe
type venue
• Perhaps a coffee shop
• Restaurant/Cafe/Pub family friendly
COMMUNITY CENTRE - 30 • A bigger Community Hall (Village Hall is
great but not big enough for a lot of
things)
• A Community Centre
• A Community Centre or for the one we
have to be redecorated
• A community Centre would be lovely as
Village Hall is small for some uses. If a
community Cafe could be incorporated
then this would be great.
• A Community space for music practice,
dance, meetings etc.
• A new Community Centre is an obvious
improvement space for playgroup,
Kaspars, pensioners, youth club, sports
clubs etc. The village would grow as a
community (although not in size) with
the provision of a new Community
Centre.
• A new Community Centre open for the
young and elderly alike, available for
private functions to make it more viable
• Better Community Centre
• Better Community Centre more open
plan?
• Better Village Hall/new Community
Centre
• Big Community Centre that can be used
for everyone, more clubs for kids, could
be hired out for private functions
• Bigger Village Hall
• Community Centre
• Community Centre
• Community Centre
• community centre at edge of village so
more parking and kids playing around it
doesn't disturb people
• Community Centre with small coffee
shop for elderly
• Community Centre with somewhere for
kids to go
• Community Hall with coffee
shop/restaurant
• good to have a centre all ages can use
• Improve Community Centre facilities
• Improve the Village Hall or get a new
one
• Larger centrally placed Community
Hall/Cafe/informal elderly day activities
• Need a Community Centre with space
for pool table etc. Open 6 at night
supervised. 6-10 in dark hours to give
teenagers something to do get the kids
involved in raising money.
• New Community Centre with Surgery,
better storage, car parking etc.
• Some money spent on improving the
Village Hall facilities
• Village Hall done up & used more
profitably i.e. things for wee boys
• Village hall expand/improve use for all
ages especially teenagers
• Why do we always have to pay for Halls
some families in the village are
struggling have things on in the Hall
that's free. Not all the pensioners are
well off & costs need to be kept down so
they can join in.
• Would be good to have a Community
Centre/Bowling Green (see map)
DOG ISSUES - 29 • Better & cleaner pavements dog poo dog warden monitoring
46
• Clean up the streets - dog fouling a
problem in the Park too
• Couple of bins up from Whitemoss Road
for dog poo
• Deal with dog fouling
• Dog mess dog patrols should be out of
hours not just 9-5.
• Dog mess management
• Dog warden patrolling
• Dog wardens 7-9pm & 6am onwards as
this is when dog walkers are out
• Education for dog owners to stop fouling
• Fence area off in park to exclude dogs
• Find a way of changing people's
behaviour to clearing up after dogs.
• Less dog muck on pavements & Play Park
• License to have a dog
• More dog bins
• More dog bins
• More dog bins
• More dog litter bins in the Main Street
• More dog muck bins
• More education re health dangers of
dog & cat poo
• More fines or preventative measures to
stop dog fouling
• More litter & dog bins around the place
• More poo bins in the Park area (see map)
• More posters for dog mess
• More presence of dog wardens to
address dog fouling problem
• Need to get owners to pick up dog poo in
lane near farm
• New children's Park (which is already
happening!) that's fenced off to keep
dogs out
• Removal by dog owners of their dog's
mess!
• Responsible dog owners
• Too much dog mess!
MORE FACILITIES/ACTIVITIES – 155 General - 97 • A pub for the whole community family
friendly
• a social place to meet
• A weather shelter for the very
dedicated lollipop lady
• Access to a swimming pool! (Kirknewton
baths would be better nearest public
pool is Broxburn. 'Bubbles' does not
count.
• Access to Health Centre facilities
within village particularly for those
without own transport & the elderly
• An oral history of the village
• Another pub or somewhere to eat
• ATM
• ATM in Kirknewton I think this would be
well used & helpful addition to the
village
• ATM/ cash line machine would be useful
• ATM/Cash point
• ATM/Cash line
• ATM/Cash line hole in the wall
• Badminton
• Better Broadband
• Better facilities i.e. a cafe would be nice
• Better mobile & reliable Broadband
would allow working from home
• better pub
• Better pub/food
• Better shops/more choice of goods to
purchase
• Better sports facilities for all ages e.g.
access to tennis courts at Wellwood
Estate
• Bigger, better Gala more activities,
maybe even parade
• Bowling Club
• Butcher
• Charity shop to self-fund info centre
• Charity shop to self-fund info centre
• Chemist
• Chemist
• Club House for football in the Park can't
play 11/ a side need changing room
• Community art projects
• Community based coffee shop could be
used for clubs e.g. knitting. In Newport
on Tay there's one that is a gift shop
too, which has volunteers & community
donate baking. Volunteer staffing might
be difficult for those with small
children. Suggest building near
Drummond Housing site & because no
development seems to be happening
47
there (Mapped)
• Community/Doctor Centre
• Cooking club Progressive meals
• Cooking club Progressive meals
• Could be another shop
• Could be more for older kids to do so
they don't wreck the Park for younger
children
• Cycle Club in summer
• Doctor in village
• Doctor or at least Nurse of Physio to
visit village
• Doctor or at least Nurse of Physio to
visit village
• Doctor's surgery (even a drop-in)
closest is East Calder
• Doctor's surgery in village
• dying pubs – need more people going to
it – better atmosphere
• East Calder on a Friday night has a
Youth Club. My son who is 10 used to go.
They do craft, snooker, play games,
there's a Wii. Good for them socially.
Kirknewton could do with something like
that.
• Encouragement of more community
involvement
• Entertainment for older people a new
club
• Events in the Park e.g. in summer
• Fast Broadband
• Faster Broadband (working from home)
• Fence play area against dogs & to stop
little kids getting out
• few more local facilities – shops – things
to do considering the population
• few more shops
• Food co-op
• Gala flags should be throughout the
village
• Good to have a bakers in Kirknewton
• Hard surface in Park for team sports
• I moved into Kirknewton in June 2007 &
did not know anyone in West Lothian.
The good thing was the existence of the
Konnect Directory which gives
information on the area but I wished I
could have more information about the
village and the activities/community life
when I moved in.
• If more people got involved in things
like Gala Day, more joining up & sharing
of resources amongst the different
organisations
• Improved facilities e.g. local pub raising
profile of Kirknewton
• In full time jobs in our 30's with no kids
and I would like to see some kind of
activity for working adults! A lot of the
activities appear to be for kids, families
and or older people etc. I was thinking
something like adult learning i.e. fitness,
language class, EDCL and/or book club.
Zumba is the only fitness available and
costs 4 pounds for 45 mins! The list of
relative cheap/easy to set up activity is
endless.
• Increased community spirit!!
• Interested in history of village & done
historical research
• Kirknewton would be a much better
place if more people chose to be
involved in community projects/clubs
etc.
• Local based Surgery have to depend on a
driver (I don't drive)
• Local Health Centre perhaps
• More activities in the village (all ages)
• More events/activities for families e.g.
in Village Hall
• more facilities/entertainment
• More individuals involved - new scope to
actions
• More news about the life in the village
(activities/groups/events etc.)
• More shops - chemist
• More shops, a good pub with food where
you could go for a family meal
• More traditional pub
• Music rehearsal space in the 'Eco' shed
• Need a clinic/doctor once or twice a
week
• Need health classes at Community
Centre e.g. Dance lessons, self defence
• Needs to be more for families
• Nice local inn & restaurant
• No dental surgery so have to go to East
Calder Medical Centre OK if have car
bus times have improved
• Our own Doctor's Surgery
48
• Practise room for bands
• Pub painted & fettled (smartened up)
• Pub: lunches, tea/coffee
• Shop: improve range of goods sold
• Slimming club in Village Hall once a week
• Sports: tennis courts Mr Wellwood?
Would he open up to village use?
• Tennis courts @ Burnwynd but no public
transport access
• The Kirknewton pub could do lunches,
tea/coffee
• Village Feast might become an autumn
fair
• Village Feast might become an autumn
fair
• We need something to invite non-
residents to village e.g. restaurant/tea
shop/walking make use of the
views/country parks/adventure
playground
• Website
• Would be good to have little shop in
Linburn
• Would like to see the return of
traditional aspects of gala day i.e. gala
queen, page boy and ladies in waiting.
• More bins around
• Cheaper stuff in the shop
• Kirknewton needs to improve what it has
because lots of people are very bored &
don't ken what to do
Youth - 58 • 12-16 for Youth Club 5-6.30pm hour & a
half, physical games
• A cafe for young people
• Activities for children e.g. 9 years +
• Activities for teens
• Activities for teens e.g. a Club
• Ask the kids
• Ask the young people
• Bit more for teenagers to do
• Get the kids involved in developing ideas
i.e. get involved in raising money for
community building
• Important to have somewhere for
teenagers & high school pupils, though
they are not a problem.
• Maybe a community space with drop-in
facilities for teenagers (i.e. table
tennis, Wii etc.)
• More activities for children i.e. Skate
park
• More amenities for children
• More for kids 5-a-side
• More for teenagers especially boys, i.e.
drop-in cafe internet thing - already
one for an hour a week but its limited to
Church so may put some people off.
• More for the younger ones lack of
transport & can't drive etc.
• move classes for kids – i.e. karate –
locally so don't have to rely on public
transport
• Multi-purpose gym hall, i.e. different
coloured lines for different sports e.g.
tennis red, football green (like Ratho)
open at night for Brownies, Guides,
football, hangout for teenagers.
• My children are now past nursery age
but wrap around care for this age group
would be appreciated by many
• Need to be things for the teenagers
• Needs to be more in the village for all
age groups & young people boredom is
leading to vandalism
• Opportunities for children & young
people to participate in the development
of community life
• Quite happy with what I need, though
it's the young ones who need things
• Rugby group Sunday morning would lead
a group (volunteer to work with youth
teams)
• Safe outdoor area for children
• Skate Park built in Park for older
children
• skateboard area up in the park
• Soccer group
• Some sort of childcare/nursery that
would bring people from all the housing
areas together
• Some sort of meeting place for young
people
• Some sort of play area in Kaimes
• Some sort of Youth/Activities Club for
11-16 year olds
49
• Something for older kids
• Something for the teenagers
• Something in place for the children i.e.
a regular Youth Club
• Something needs doing for teenagers
because getting bored & trouble
• Somewhere decent for the kids i.e. 6-12
year olds
• Teens Cafe or drop-in
• There doesn't seem to be a youth club
or teenage meeting place. I am sure with
a volunteer rally/training we could try
and meet the youth of Kirky needs.
After all these YP are the next
generation and keeping in touch with
their needs will help with anti-social
behaviour, discipline and potentially
make them more responsible citizens as
well as bridging gaps in our community.
• Things for 11-16 year olds. We need a
youth leader or a teen group to plan
things for themselves - there is money
around as seen in the Funding Fair.
• Things for 11-16 year olds. We need a
youth leader or a teen group to plan
things for themselves - there is money
around as seen in the Funding Fair.
• Things for older children
• things for the kids to do – 16 yr. old-
nothing to do
• Was a drama club but only to P7 would
like something like that for older/teens
• Youth Club
• Youth Club
• Youth Club 12-16, 5-6.30pm physical
games, food
• Youth Club at weekend
• Youth Club for older children
• Youth Club indoor bowling, games in Park
• Youth Club staggered for different ages
(would be prepared to volunteer for 2
hours a week)
• Youth Club teenagers 12-16
• Youth Club: children to play on a Friday
night
• Youth clubs
• youth clubs 16-18 yr. olds – something to
do
• Skate Park
• A better play area
• Skate Park because it is a good place to
hang out
PARK - 48 • A better Park
• A tennis court in the Park
• Another play area other side of village
from the Play Park
• Area in Kaimes (see map) improve & tidy
up & make it an area safe for kids to
play.
• Better Park play equipment
• Better Park with more modern play
facilities
• Better paths in Play Park to make them
weather-proof & more user friendly for
pram-pushers, children on bikes &
skates etc.
• Better use of the Park area more
facilities for all, not just younger
children
• big park needs more for older children
• Bike track in Park
• Bike track in Park
• Central entry to Play Park needs
reinstatement for convenience of adult
& child users (currently children climb
over fence & sometimes hurt themselves
where gate used to be)
• Exercise machinery in Park
• Fence in new Play area as then safer
environment & clean from dog poo
• Five-a-Side pitch for main Park & lit so
can play longer, especially in winter
• Give Kirknewton Park lighting for kids
• Have an all-weather hockey pitch at a
Sports Centre like East Calder
• I know the park will be done up & will
then use.
• improve park
• Improve: play facilities dated
• Improved Park
• Improvements to facilities in Park for
children
• Lighting in the Park
• Maybe another Park for kids, nearer the
other end of the village so kids that
aren't allowed up to the main Park can
50
play nearer to home (Kaimes) so it's a
bit safer than them walking on their
own.
• More smaller Parks around Kirknewton
instead of one big one
• Other small parks as now have bigger
population possibly in field & waste
ground between Kaimes & railway. (see
map)
• Outdoor green gym in Park e.g.
treadmill, weight presses e.g. Craigshill
in Livingston & fantastic example @
beach in Leven
• Park
• Park - more for young ones to do been
an issue since being here for 20years
• Park area could be more of a hub & build
on what is in village.
• park could be better for kids
• Park develop for all ages to use i.e. bike
track
• Park improve
• Park improvements
• Park is great but once it's dark it's no
good need flood light i.e. a goal lit-up
the furthest away
• Park needs to meet the needs of the
older children as well (have 9, 7, & 3
year olds)
• Park should be dog free as there is
plenty of woodland
• Park skate boards
• Park space needs further development
(aside from play equipment) no provision
for 8+ age group
• Park: better football goals; a bike track
• Park: lots of scope as plenty of room
• Play Park needs much more improvement
than currently planned
• Running track in the Park
• Skate Park for older kids
• Special needs provision e.g. if not as
aware as some other children of
boundaries, so have gates in park, nets
for goals
• The kids love football & need lights in
the Park because when it gets dark they
move to the Main Street
• Two flood lights on a time switch/sensor
away from the house at far end of the
football pitch so kids could play at night.
• Use some of empty spaces in Kaimes for
play park e.g. behind houses
SCHOOL - 15 • 5 million pounds spent on underpass
might be spent more usefully on
enlarging or building a new school.
• All-weather pitch at school and/or
tennis court
• Annual litter awareness campaign in
Primary School aimed at children (+
parents/adults)
• Expand school to ensure places for all
village kids
• Extend or build new school as
oversubscribed priority for those living
in village
• Housing in the village is expensive and
cost of living relatively high perhaps
more affordable housing should be
purchased & provided back to residents.
I would not like to see more houses
being built village is big enough & school
is full.
• Modernise school facilities
• More spaces in the school
• Priority for school places should be for
those already living here.
• School also needs a shelter in playgroup
for parents picking up
• School needs more classroom space, as
houses still getting built, thus more kids
coming into village.
• School to be modernised
• School: more classroom space for the
expanding village
• School: school could have a shelter so
that when it is raining parents won't get
wet
• Slightly larger Primary School facilities
needed to cater for existing population
•
APPEARANCE - 26
51
• A community wide effort to clear up
litter & keep the village clean. It works
elsewhere.
• Arrange a community litter collection or
ask Council to do it
• Ask garage owner to hide/remove old
bus
• Brighter more lively Main Street
• Bulldoze Kaimes Estate & rebuild
• Cleaner & tidier
• cleaner streets
• council to remove extra grit from
footpath
• Face lift with tidy fencing who has
responsibility? (Kaimes)
• If it was a brighter, more colourful
village
• Improve the look as Kaimes is tatty
• Improve waste ground on right hand
side going to East Calder (see map) it's
a bog in the winter & been like it for 16+
years. Builder should do something
about it.
• Improved cleaning from Council. Cut
communal grass. Dispute ownership get
it sorted
• Improved waste collection larger bins to
collectively store waste as opposed to
lots of wheelie bins on street
• Landscape area behind Kaimes (map) also
other grass areas as Council won't adopt
& householders don't do their bit to
look after.
• More bins to put rubbish in
• Paint houses on Main Street different
colours (e.g. like logo)
• Pub: improve appearance; bin for
extinguishing cigarette ends
• Pub hanging baskets
• Renew/clean sign at east of village
• Re-paint pub and make it look less scary
& more inviting
• Review of unkempt public places in the
village to make the village look better &
a place that the residents of the village
take a pride in
• snow clearance on the side streets
would prevent the main street being
blocked in winter
• Tidier, less litter etc.
• Tidy up the village may create a sense
of pride within the community
• West Lothian District Council to use
some legal muscle to make home owners
clean up their properties & gardens
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - 62 • As all residents know, the 'S' shaped
bend in the Main Street is a hazard,
especially because, due to insufficient
parking spaces, cars are forced to park
on one side of the street. Cars, vans,
lorries & buses all have to drive through
the village and speeding is a problem.
Therefore, I suggest 2 'sleeping
policemen' to be built on the Main
Street, approaching the said 'S' bend.
• At the moment there is too much village
traffic too many heavy lorries using as a
by-pass
• Better street lighting between the
railway station & the traffic lights (this
is a dangerous road to walk at night)
• Better traffic management in village i.e.
electronic sign or bump, also on airport
road or near school (map)
• Big advance warning signs to make
people aware of the Kirknewton turning
– traffic lights • Bus area is marked on one side but not
on other, plus area should be marked as
no parking
• Car park areas in Kaimes could be
maintained for safety when people are
mobilising as on a steep hill
• Change Network Rail's plans for
crossing improvement for options more
acceptable to community
• Close the Main Street to rat-running
lorries, limited use of yellow lines to
control careless parking, speed reducing
methods on Station Road right up to
Newlands Estate.
• Disabled parking somewhere near
Shop/PO/Village Hall
• Disabled parking somewhere near
Shop/PO/Village Hall
52
• Double barrier on the crossing wouldn't
be as expensive as a tunnel
• Double barrier to railway
• Double yellow lines through village
• Double-arm rail crossing barriers
instead of 6million pound alternatives
that deprive long-standing excellent
farmer of some of his prime land.
• Fix the rail crossing
• Flashing lights to warn of speed
• Full barrier at Station
• I seem to be the only person who thinks
the bridge to replace the level crossing
is a good idea
• improvements to traffic, parking
(rationalisation of), pedestrian, cycling,
seating
• Limit speed on winding road to
Kirknewton
• Limiting access in the Main Street to
cars & NO HUGE TRUCKS
• Make Kaimes Crescent a one-way
because narrow & double parking
• Make Kaimes Crescent a one-way
because narrow & double parking
• Managing the traffic in Main Street no
easy solution
• More considerate driving through Main
Street & less selfish parking
• More speed bumps on road from Balerno
side of village to reduce traffic speed
passing school
• Needs to be clear where bus stops –
particularly for non-drivers/teenagers &
older people
• Not enough parking space (Kaimes)
• one way traffic lights at either end of
the village
• Parking area
• Parking restrictions on the main street
to ease road rage and congestion.
Speed humps are positioned on the Main
Street (blind bend by the graveyard,
village end (junction with Meadowbank
Road and in between long straight
portion of road) Apparently 2 cats have
been killed over the last two months on
this short portion of road and a dog was
killed by a bus last year. Also a child
was killed while crossing after leaving
the bus about 25 years ago.
Grit boxes would be good for people to
manage the icy/snow conditions on the
rural roads to please. I'm up Leyden
Road and although I managed after 3
months of pestering to get a box put on
the bad corner as it leaves the railway
line, someone had stolen it within a
week! If not boxes, can I suggest a
Kirknewton village central store of grit
that everyone can access to take away a
supply to help look after their own area?
This would be easy for the council to
maintain and I'm sure locals would find
it more helpful.
• Parking space (live on Main Street)
• Parking up Main Street extend car park
in Park to allow parking to get off the
streets
• Proper safe pavements from bus stop to
Burnwynd
• Protect pedestrians: Cars start
speeding down as going out of village
when they get from Meadowbank Road
onwards. Pavements very narrow here so
if have buggy & child or dog, have to
walk in road. Having traffic calming or
narrow the road. (Mapped)
• Putting full-length barriers at the level
crossing would make it much safer
• Safer road crossing
• Safety mechanisms coming to village
especially outside Hillhouse Wynd
flashing '30' sign (slow down) and/or
narrow road/sleeping policemen
• Something to manage traffic congestion
on Main Street
• Sort out signage at A71 to stop
commercial traffic heading for
Kirknewton village instead of Camps!!
• Speed bumps on Road at Hillhouse Wynd
(To Map) • Speed humps are positioned on the Main
Street (blind bend by the graveyard,
village end (junction with Meadowbank
Road and in between long straight
portion of road) Apparently 2 cats have
been killed over the last two months on
this short portion of road and a dog was
killed by a bus last year. Also a child
53
was killed while crossing after leaving
the bus about 25 years ago.
Traffic - possibly flashing warning lights
near school
• SPEED REDUCING MEASURES Vehicles
enter & exit Kirknewton at ridiculous
speeds especially leaving through the
east exit. Speeds of up to 60mph.
Proper speed bumps & a sign showing
their speed are needed.
• Traffic calming coming into the village
this is basic safety especially as the
School path runs alongside it
• Traffic calming in Main Street
• Traffic calming measures on Main
Street all the way through to Hillhouse
Wynd
• Traffic controls: speed signs in & out of
village, speed bumps, parking in Main
Street
• Traffic management in Main Street
• Traffic management on Main Street
• Yellow lines in the Main Street
• Alternative to wheelie bins in Kaimes
there's lots of steps up & down to
houses so they're left on path so no
room for walking, buggies & small
children on bikes & scooters. Suggest
communal large bins put into parking
area separate for recycling, especially
with the new food waste recycling due
to happen. They would be quicker to
empty.
• Disabled parking somewhere near
Shop/PO/Village Hall
• Grit used in winter gets into house.
Should sweep up grit & reuse.
• It took 3 days for tractor to get down
to Kaimes from main road had to dig
ourselves out lots of complaints were
put on Facebook.
• Make Kaimes Crescent a one-way
because narrow & double parking
• Needed to take about 2 week’s holiday
because of snow of last 2 winters. The
way cars were parked stopped services
getting down to Kaimes.
• No disabled parking in Main Street
• Not able to get out for 3 days over
winter slopes & ice. This affects
people's working life. Snow plough piled
the snow up round the cars.
• Parking issues on-going but especially
when snowing. Frequent double parking
on Kaimes Crescent especially at night
time means it's a hazard. Bin lorries
can't get down.
• Roads in Kaimes area not managed well
when there was snow.
• Sort out winter arrangements Kaimes is
on slope & ice is dangerous especially
older people & for children.
LOCAL ECONOMY - 5 • Attracting more small businesses
• Info on cheaper energy use in area as
have no gas
• Kirknewton needs to be nice enough that
people want to come here. This could
stimulate the local economy & support
more facilities and amenities for local
people to also benefit from.
• local business directory for services in
the village i.e. hairdresser, beautician,
dog walker, tradesmen services
• no local jobs
DEVELOPMENT & PLANNING - 20 • Affordable housing
• Alternative to wheelie bins in Kaimes
there's lots of steps up & down to
houses so they're left on path so no
room for walking, buggies & small
children on bikes & scooters. Suggest
communal large bins put into parking
area separate for recycling, especially
with the new food waste recycling due
to happen. They would be quicker to
empty.
• Better management of bins on Main
Street for safety
• Better plans for dealing with winter
weather
• Guaranteed restriction on further
residential development around village
to keep size, surrounding countryside &
54
feeling of community protected.
• Housing associations should come in &
bring in social housing & houses for
people with a connection with
Kirknewton should have a priority
• Maintaining & building on village e.g.
good the Gala has come back.
• Maintaining sense of community by not
allowing large-scale development
• No wind farms please!!
• Not increasing size of village much
further so as to keep its identity&
separateness
• Not to let it get any bigger - more
building would spoil the feel of the
village
• Over development would lose the 'village
feel' of the village & lessen its
agricultural nature, leading to
Kirknewton becoming a dormitory town.
• Rail crossing - there was a consultation
on this but haven't heard how there's
any progress.
• Sort out winter arrangements Kaimes is
on slope & ice is dangerous especially
older people & for children.
• Sort the water supply at the cemetery
so it can be used
• Widen the narrow pavements between
the Shop & the Park & at the bottom of
the village
• Wider pavements
• Would be nice to see the old gate
restored near the traffic lights A71 –
Linburn
• Wouldn't want Kirknewton to get any
bigger
• Solar panels on all community buildings
MISCELLANEOUS - 29 A reliable signal on phone e.g. today is
typical trying to get signal for several hours
to speak to other people in village depend on
it as no landline.
Better gritting in the winter
Council says communal Kaimes areas belong
to MOD
Council seeking opinions from residents
about their performance
Garage owner stopped from extending his
business to public area
Grit used in winter gets into house. Should
sweep up grit & reuse.
Having villages own supply of salt in advance
of winter e.g. Park & a few other places
throughout village
Higher visibility of community policing
between the times of 19.00 & 22.00.
I think a culture change is needed in
Kirknewton. In this new challenging world,
communities such as ours need to integrate
to survive. I think there could be a class
divide with middle class people moving out
of the city into a predominantly working
class village. Something to break this stigma
of classes and the 'newcomers' from the
'locals' would help greatly with this, to help
aid integration.
Is there any system in place to support
elderly or infirm in cases of extreme snow
etc. when care at home services can't get
through? A local buddy system could be set
up.
Knowing who - elderly or disabled - who
could do with help shopping, company system
for holding this information
Limit the area beside the Community Office
so this isn't a football area for children
Maintaining & building on village e.g. good
the Gala has come back.
Nothing particularly
Information points about history of the
village
School inform children not to go & play in
Graveyard educate them @ School
Solar panels on all community buildings
Sort out Midlothian versus West Lothian
conflict for postal address versus local
authority
Sort out winter arrangements Kaimes is on
slope & ice is dangerous especially older
people & for children.
More community policing & police awareness
for the kids.
Perhaps a mediator could be allocated for
the village i.e. minor
disputes/confrontations could be dealt with
55
before they escalate/get out of control’.
Police
Police based in Livingston would be better as
closer than Broxburn
Police keep checking Kirknewton
Police officer to patrol
A police man to patrol Police need to make presence aware,
especially with the new Park.
Police to be pro-active with teenagers.
Policemen on the beat to help with the little
vandalism there is deter the teenage
element
I've lived here all my life (over 32 years).
I'm not interested because the incomers
weren't here when the waste was dumped &
now they want to take over with the
compensation money & change for
themselves. We had to live with it.
Newcomers come because it's cheaper than
Balerno but they don't give you the time of
day & don't give way in the village with cars
.
56
Appendix 4: Balerno High School 26 pupils 12 – 17 + Youths at Kozi Café under 15
THINGS THEY LIKED LOCATION - 5 Good community, friendly
Grass areas and open spaces,
park,
Good community
Friendly
PARK - 1 Park when sunny
FACILITIES/ACTIVITIES - 13 Chippie
Chippie
Football field
football pitch
Good Kozy Kafé
Good shop
Half decent shop
Kozi Cafe
Park
Shop
Shop
Used to be something at the Church on a
Sunday in the summer 6-12, paid 3 pounds
and get food & drink was good
THINGS THEY WERE NOT SO KEEN ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT - 5 Bus to Ratho – Balerno – Kirknewton 424 bus
only during the week
Buses not reliable
No good bus routes
Poor bus services
Transport, only one bus, prices, how often
(more buses!)
FACILITIES/ACTIVITIES - 5 Poor facilities
not enough activities, not much to do for
kids
Nothing to do
No skate park
Not enough activities
PARK - 4Park – not very entertaining, needing more
items
Park
Too dark to use the Park at night
Pond in Park is dangerous for smaller kids
APPEARANCE - 3 Sewer smell
Litter and gravel everywhere
Kaimes Crescent Car Park / Cal de Sac
needs cleaning up
CHANGES/IMPROVEMENTS THEY RECORDED AS BEING IMPORTANT E.G. PUBLIC TRANSPORT - 8 Better bus services to shopping centres
Bus a few times a weekend that connects
Balerno-Kirknewton-Ratho-Livingston (?424)
Bus link to Ratho and Balerno is needed and
needs to be frequent
Bus route connecting Balerno, Ratho and
Kirky to see mates
Buses to Balerno 424 not just 44
Improve bus services with lots of
suggestions as to what can be done
Improve Kirknewton Buses
To Ratho 41 and 48 – to enable people to see
each other in Ratho and Balerno
FACILITIES/ACTIVITIES - 12 Better place for teens/children
Football team
Metal football pitches
57
Motocross track Put goalposts at field at the back of
Hallcraigs
Skate Park – with lots of reasons why they
would like one i.e. because there is nothing
to do; last forever; it’s a hangout place; cost
of transport and lack of it to other venues,
lack of things to do. Costs a bomb to get
the train e.g. £4-£15. Also “let the kids
design it”; concrete built
Skate Park mentioned by a lot of the
students
Some more activities
Try to have a variety of shops – remember
the sweet shop
Try to have more entertaining things for
children (High School and Primary)
Would be good to have a local football team
Youth group enjoyed the one that was on
APPEARANCE - 4
Flowers in areas
Cleaning up messy areas – graffiti, poor
tarmac
Re-tarmac the car Parks in Kaimes
Let kids change the village – look at what
they want
PARK - 8 Another set of swings or other equipment in
the park
Artificial turf so could be used all year
round
Astroturf in Park
Flying fox
Lights in the Park
Park improvements
Park needs improvements and more play
items
Skateboard ramp in Park
LOCAL ECONOMY - 1 More business
58
Appendix 5: Kirknewton Nursery & Primary School
NURSERY: WHAT THEY LIKE From single sheet with drawings Feeding the ponies
The animals in the fields
The fields
The countryside
Having a lollipop lady
Village events like BBQs and Gala Days and
Ceilidhs
Dance classes at the Village Hall
The Playgroup
Kirknewton Nursery
The bus
The Railway Station
The Post Office
Swing Park
Slide
Walking to the Shops
Friendly neighbours
Cycling
We like everything about Kirknewton
It feels a safe place
Peace and quiet
Our house
I love going to the Park and playing on the
slide
Having a swing park
New Play Park we are getting x 2
The swings and roundabout at the play park
Big Park (especially when new play park
built)
Having a Park
The Park playing on the swings
Park
The fact the Park is being upgraded
Having a big Park (even better that it is
soon to be refurbished following village
consultation)
I like seeing the cows in the field
The fields
Watching the lambs
I like to feed the ponies
I like to go and see the ponies near the
railway line
I like to go for a walk in the countryside
Animals in field
Going in the woods
Being able to walk in the woods
Trees
Being near the countryside
The birds visiting the garden
Walking to Nursery
Likes playing in the garden
Having a Nursery and a School in the village
The School and Nursery
Nursery
Nursery
A great Nursery and Primary School
Nursery School
The Nursery/School
Not too noisy
My friends
I like being able to walk to friends’ houses
Being able to play in my street with friends
and on my bike
Friendly people
Friendly neighbours
People are kind and helpful
Being able to ride my bike to School and the
Park
Cycling to the shop
Ballet class x 2
Dance class at Village Hall
The Gala Day
Village events like BBQs, Ceilidhs, Irish Jigs
and the Gala Day
Going for walks x 2
Playgroup x 2
Playgroup
A well-stocked village shop and handy Post
Office
59
Shop
The shop
The village shop because it has Cbeebies
magazines
Going to the shop to buy sweeties
I like to go to the local shop and not have to
go in the car all the time
Post Office
I like posting letters in the Post Office
Keith the friendly postman!
A lovely feeling of community
Being safe on the road with Mrs Charleston
Lollipop lady
A lovely lollipop lady
Having a regular (usually!) bus and train
service
Having a Railway Station
Train Station
NURSERY: WHAT THEY DON’T LIKE From single sheet with drawings No space left at the dance class
No Youth Club or other things for older
children
Expensive bus service
Fast cars!
Crossing the road by the shops
No speed bumps
No Cafe
Old Park
The slippery grit in the Park because I feel
and hurt my knees
No duck pond
Somewhere to go on my bike
Dog poo
Broken glass
Litter
Dog poo in the Park and in our street
Dog poo
Dog poo in the Park and on the pavements is
horrible!!
Dog poo! (in Park and on pavements)
Dog poo on all the pavements yuk!
Lots of dog muck on pavements
Doggy poo
All the dog poo
Dogs frighten me when they run the Park
and on the paths and are not on leads
Broken glass
Glass in the Park
Rubbish in Park
Litter in the Park
Litter
Grit on pavements
I didn't like the slippery grit because I fell
and my knees bleed
Glass in playground
Not much for kids to do as Park does not
have much in it
There might be room to fit me in the School
When I get older I wish that there was
more to do for older children, perhaps in
the village Hall like a youth club
We need more kids clubs in the village
No space left at the dance class in the
Village Hall (too small)
Nowhere to go when raining local if you
don't drive
Nowhere to go for a cake and juice to meet
friends with Mummy
Somewhere to go on my bike
Small pavements when I'm on my bike
Busy road
Crossing the road by the shop
I don't like fast scary cars on the road
Cars drive too fast
Cars go too fast in the village
No speed bumps
The Park at the moment
I wish that there were new swings and a
climbing frame in the play park
No duck pond to feed ducks at!
Being snowed in
I don't like walking in the trees
The bus service
The unreliable bus service which is also
expensive
60
NURSERY: WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE CHANGED/IMPROVEMENTED From single sheet An ice-cream shop
Book shop or Library
A fence to stop dogs going into the swing
park
Another crossing for the road by the shops
A new duck pond
More space for dance classes (bigger
community centre)
P1/ 2 H
LIKES I like the way you can go to the village hall
and do things
I like the Park it's nice
I like the burn
I like 'Potter Around'
DISLIKES I don't like broken glass
Big lorries going too fast
No bridge to cross the rails
IMPROVEMENTS A bigger school
Car park to make it safer at home time
(parents can pull in)
Village snowplough
Swimming pool or changing rooms
More toys in the Shop
Glass recycling facility (Teacher comment)
Clothes/can recycling facility (Teacher
comment)
P2/ 1G
LIKES Ballet, Rainbows, dancing, art club
The Park
Fresh water and milk
Houses
Animals
School
Chip shop!
DISLIKES The shop
It is small
At night people swing the swings around the
poles (In the park)
At night people are noisy in the streets
Lots of pollution from cars and buses
IMPROVEMENTS Get the Council to make the gardens better A bigger Chip Shop
P3 / 2 LIKES
The School
The Shop
The Chip Shop
The Church
The Park
Our friends and family
The houses
DISLIKES Litter in the Park
61
The Graveyard is messy
People throw glass
The roads have cracks in them
Improvements More things in the Park
More bins in the Park (or empty current ones)
Bigger Village Hall
Bigger School
Change the Shop - more toys
Bakers/Deli
PRIMARY 4 LIKES Top 3 selected by Class
Train Station
Potter Around
Chippy
There's lots of space in the Park to play
games such as football
Woods in the Park
The Park
Park in the village
Playground
It's a small place so it's easy to find places
The smell of the air
The woods
Trees
The swamp
The fields
The people
The farm
Animals
Nature
Wildlife
Countryside
Weather
Train Station
The Train Station
Potter Around x 2
Cosy Cafe in the Village Hall
School
The School
Village Hall
Village Hall
Chip Shop in the village
Chippy x 4
Post Office x 2
Post Office in the village
Festival Stores
The Shops sell lots of stuff
Village Shop
Shop in the village
Shop
Pub in the village for adults
Pavements
Houses
People
The Streets
DISLIKES Top 3 selected by class
Broken glass
Bus Stops
The Village Hall
Park
Park
The park
Basketball nets in the village
Maths
Spelling
Homework
School
62
Broken glass
Graffiti
Litter
Broken glass
Rubbish
Houses
Roads
Cars
Broken bikes
Trains
Lack of trees
No grass
The puddles
Hurting animals
Resources for the school
The resources at school
Graveyard in the village
Bus stops in the village
Train track in the village
The village hall
The pub
IMPROVEMENTS Top 3 selected by class
The bus timetables so they don't meet
Add dog dirt bins
More activities
The Village Hall bigger
Police Station
The bus timetables so 2 buses don't meet in
the Main Street
Add public toilets
Add bins
Add dog dirt bins
More trees
Bigger school
Less school subjects
No school
The lunch tables in the school
Less violence
No silliness
More fashionable clothes
No school clothes
More pets
Houses with secret passages
Tesco Express
Pet Shop
Festival Stores bigger
Add shopping centre
Add sports centre
Add hairdresser
Add a Kirknewton football team
Add a cinema
Men's sport shop
Pet shop because we would like pets a lot
Cloth and sports shops
Shops with umbrellas that block out light
Activities
Football goals in the school
Astro pitch
Swimming pool
Add gym
An ice rink
Swimming pool because it would be very nice
in the summer time
Gym for exercise
Child Gym
Horse riding centre because girls really find
it fun!
Zoo because lots of people like the Zoo
PRIMARY 5 LIKES
Top selected by Class
Places to play
Church
63
Clubs
Friends
Houses
Park football pitch
Places to Play
Post Office
The Chip Shop
The Shop
Potter Around
Railway Station
The School
Village Hall
Wildlife
Wood
DISLIKES
Top selected by Class
Litter/graffiti
Litter
Graffiti
Dog poo on pavements
Unkind people
IMPROVEMENTS Top selected by Class
Football team
More trees
Close bins
Fix roads
Less grit
Shop bigger
Toys in shop
Football team
Ice rink
Swimming pool
P6 LIKES
School
Teachers
Our friends
Friends
My friend
My family
My house and friends
My house x 4
Community
My street
My friends!
My family
My friends and family x 2
How we're all like one big happy family!
Potter Around
Potter Around
Potter Around
The Stables
Kaspars x 2
Ormiston Mains
Chips from the Chippy
Chippy
The Chippy x 2
The Chip Shop
Shop Festival Stores
The village Shop
The weather
Snow, rain, hailstones
The snow
The Railway Station to get to Edinburgh &
Glasgow
The Railway: because I can go to Edinburgh
to the Build a Bear factory
Park
Church
We live in Scotland
The woods
The wildlife
The fields
The woods & wildlife
Wood
The open space!
The hill, round the back path
The wildlife
The swings in the Park
64
The SIZE of the Park x 2
Internet
TV
My dinner
Small village
Our small School x 2
The Post Office
Meadowbank Hill
The Village Hall x 2
Building Site
Houses
DISLIKES People put the swings too high round the
pole
People chuck footballs at you when you are
playing at the Park
People dropping cigarettes on the ground x
2
People playing with lighters at the Park near
the toys
People under 18 walk around with alcohol
near little children
People chucking stuff at the Village Hall
windows
Big kids walking around with knives in their
hands
Big people play on the little swings when
little people want on them
People should not be litter bugs
People with pen knives
People who burn things
People swearing
People smoking
Drunk people
People (older kids) wreck the Park
More bins round the Park
Broken glass everywhere
All the rubbish
Litter (more bins)
We don't like litter in the street
Broken glass
Cigarette things on top of bins
Dog dirt (poo)
The weather
The small Village Hall
School
Church
Park
Small school
Not a lot to do except for the Park
Put tarmac in front of the basketball net so
you could bounce a ball & it's on a hill
Closed doors in classroom
Shop not big enough (more variety of stuff
in the shop)
£ should go in improvements
Small Post Office
Bigger Park
Better football pitch
Bigger school
More adventurous stuff for the Park ex. zip
wire
We want safe Railway Station
Better signal for Broadband
The Shop (Festival Stores) isn't big enough
IMPROVEMENTS Obstacle course in Park
More events in Kirknewton AKA football
lessons
More arts and crafts lessons e.g. Pottery,
clay making and glass making
Assault course
Youth club
Kirknewton sports team
Skate Park
More stuff for the Park
Paint balling at Kirknewton forest
Paint balling at Kirknewton Park
Bike track
Water Park
Swimming pool in the NAAFI
Better football pitch
65
Rugby team
Kirknewton football, rugby, hockey,
basketball team
Indoor bit at the Park for soft play or
arcade
Improve the Park
Get an obstacle course in the top end
playground
Roller coaster
Class for drug dealers to stop smoking and
taking drugs
Class for all the drug dealers to stop
Wildlife place in Kirknewton or near x 2
Animal safety centre for stray animals x 2
Bigger shop with clothes in it x 2
Cafe
Starbucks x 2
Costa
Game shop x 2
A big shop
Better Chippy
Art shop
Clothes shop
Pet shop
Ice cream stand in the Stand
Cinema
More fizzy strawberry laces in the shop x
2
Celebrities
A Runway Show
The Aeroplane Show
Get some more bins in the Park
Fix the pavements
A flower garden in the Park
P7 LIKES Top 3 chosen by class
The Park especially with new plans in place
to improve it
Cosy Cafe somewhere to meet others
The Shop
The wildlife / nature: cute and good for
exploring
Firs lots of them to climb
Kirknewton Wood hide and seek, it's got
bike bumps (small)
The new Park spacious, forests
The Stables because it's good for younger
children
The Park we like playing football
The woods it's good for playing games
Lots of great surroundings for children,
park, trees to climb etc.
School because you get good education
The Cosy Cafe: it's fun, cosy and FREE!
Cosy Cafe free biscuits and hot chocolate
On Friday the Cosy Cafe so we can meet up
The Village Hall used for parties/clubs
Village Hall because it is good for parties
and things
Shop/Chippy because they are good things
The Chippy the food tastes nice
Festival Stores it has nice food
The Shop is good, the staff are lovely
Everyone is friends
A lot of nice people
People because they're friendly
Friendly village
All our friends live here so we can play
with our friends
Some of the houses are nice
It's close to SOME people's work
DISLIKES Top 3 chosen by class
The Village Hall needs updated
Nowhere to spend free time with others
indoors
Not enough bins to keep the area tidy
The hall could be bigger for more clubs
The hall's interior needs updated
Village Hall too small
The Village Hall is too small
66
Community Hall too crammed, too small
Concrete under basketball court
Park - the green shed
They said they were getting a skate park
but it never happened
One of the best play equipment was taken
down
There's no nets on the goals
More things at the Gala Day (have a King
and Queen?)
More activities in the weekends
Nowhere to play really
The Park because the older ones wreck it!
Some people get very bored because
there's nowhere to go
Football pitch always gets wrecked
Get proper grit for winter not just stones
Litter
Too much litter
Not enough bins
Firs - thistles
Chippy no hygiene
IMPROVEMENTS Top 3 chosen by class
Improve/update the Village Hall
Develop a Skate Park e.g. ramps for bikes,
skateboards
Create a full time meeting place, e.g. Cosy
Cafe but not limited to Friday
Better entertainment
Skate Park x 2
A Skate Park & dirt bike track in Park
Bike track
More play areas
Football nets/improved pitch
Nets on goals in Park
More Zumba classes
Library
Basketball court
Graffiti Wall
Climbing Wall
BMX course
SKATE PARK
Golf course
Arcade
Library with internet access
Make the Hall better
Village Hall needs refurbished
Bigger Village Hall
Upgrade Village Hall, make bigger (get
extension) make community centre/job
centre
Baguette Express
Butchers
Chinese restaurant x 2
Greggs
Ice cream stand / hot dog (in the summer)
Ice cream stand
Petrol garage
Bank of Kirkie
Shake Bar or Juice Bar
Scotmid
Bigger and better shop (get a co-op, more
stock)
Cafe
Bus stops need new plastic windows
More bins
Bin lorry schedule
Kids should be allowed in the pub till 7
o'clock
Known vandals not allowed in the Park
CCTV for vandalism - if you're caught pay
50 pounds and village clean up
Bus lane behind Park
Zebra crossing main road
Knock down Meadowbank View's wall