Hub Engagement Feedback Mobile

Hub Engagement Event

A summary of your feedback and thoughts

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This is a collection of your thoughts, feedback and ideas that were provided at the Hub Engagement Lunch on 27 January.

The Steering Group would like to thank all those who gave their time to attend, and hopefully you find the following information interesting and useful.

Before we begin...

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What's been done already?

The Steering Group have approved extending out the current meeting room to increase it's size.

This will increase the capacity of the room and hopefully this bigger space can be used by groups while the hub development is ongoing.

There is also an intention to trial hot desking within the Phase 4 Development / current Farr Community Hall.

So, what did you say?

In fact, nobody that attended disagreed with developing a hub...

Attendees were very much in favour of developing a community hub in Strathnairn.

I fully support the concept of a community hub to act as a focus for community activities.

All the potential future developments in the hub sound good

Location, Location, Location

...and there was broad consensus that Farr Community Hall should be the location of the new hub development.

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So, what did everyone think?

There were four themes which got the most feedback.

Please click on each picture to see each theme

Find out more!

Flexible, adaptable spaces which can have lots of different purposes

A shop or selling space of some kind

A cafe space, building on the existing community cafe.

A community gym or fitness space

Flexibility

is very important to you.

You want a hub that can have...

More meeting rooms for different functions

Click on each speech bubble to reveal

Partition walls to divide spaces

An additional medium or mid range sized room

Soundproof and flexible rooms

Availability for many groups at one time

There were those who wanted some smaller spaces...

And a very few who didn't want any small spaces at all

I don’t believe we need another space that is smaller than the main hall. We need to see how the existing spaces and phase 4 will work first.

Smaller spaces for smaller events

Additional small spaces for older people

Cafe

It is clear that you really value the community cafe, and want a cafe to be a part of the new hub development.

Click on the hearts to reveal:

However, there is not a clear consensus on how the cafe should be run.

A Mix?

Commercial venture

Community run

Some felt a commercial cafe would be best, whereas others felt strongly it should remain a community cafe. Click the symbols for more information.

More here

Further cafe feedback:

Click to reveal

I’d like to see a drop in café daily

Accessible chairs in café

Proper fixed tables and chairs in the café to create a proper cafe space

Could the cafe be part of a future shop?

A long term café could be great, with a sofa and comfy seating

Having the café open on weekends so those that work through the week can attend.

I would like a café that provided lunches and that was open more often.

Currently, having the café one day a week excludes many people, particularly kids.

A Community Gym

is popular with some people:

I would like a gym and I would use a gym

The gym is a good idea, like the one at Lochcarron

Some common ideas were given, such as:

Click to reveal

Keyless entry

A separate entrance

Suitable for all abilities

Though some were not in favour of a gym

Click to reveal

The possibility of subsidised gym membership for those living in Strathnairn seemed of interest to attendees.

A subsidy scheme has been successfully run by our neighbours in Strathdearn, as an alternative to a gym.

I would be interested in a subsidised membership to any gym in Inverness

We are only 8 miles to all the gyms in Inverness. Do we really need a gym?

I would say no to a gym unless it was fully supervised.

I remain unconvinced that some of the benefits are real. Is there any evidence that a gym would be better than subsidising a gym membership? This needs more work and a feasibility study and detailed surveying of who would use the gym.

A future selling space

got lots of responses with some fantastic ideas of what that could look like within the hub development.

Your ideas included:

Local Produce

A refillery

A pop up facility for local crafts or producers

Somewhere to buy essentials

Though all were in favour of a selling space, there were questions on how this would be staffed, and whether this would require a paid employee.

There was also plenty of feedback on further aspects of the hub development.

Better provision for young people was particularly important to you,including:

Click each tile to reveal more

Many of you suggested an outdoor pump track for young people to use. Click the icon below to find out more:

A pool table or games area for young people

Comfortable space for youth clubs or somewhere for teenagers to go, they are often a forgotten group

Before and after school care in the hall, or planned activities for the school holidays.

A Multi Use Games Area, or MUGA, got a very positive response

Click on the icons to find out more

Some were keen to develop the outdoor space around the hub further, including:

A small playpark

An outdoor seating, or eating area

I would support a MUGA

I think a MUGA should be a good size so it’s useful for sports

The MUGA should be lockable and secure

A covered outside facility could be used for sports, gala or markets

Other opinions included

Hotdesking or office space

Click to reveal

And a smaller, quieter space

A bigger book area for book swaps

A library or quiet space would be good

I like the idea of a library or art space

A rented office space would be better than hotdesking. It could be a source of income. Local people may also find that more appealing

Hotdesking should be trialled for a few months, without that we can’t know if it’s something that will be used or needed.

I would use hotdesking. It would need superfast WiFi

Aspects of the building design were included in your feedback:

Click each question mark to reveal.

As were the financial requirements and sustainability of the hub

Click each for further comments

Paid Staff

Covering running costs

Generating income

Climate conscious Solar panels on the roof and batteries will reduce running costs Plenty of funding for car chargers and that should be for public use EV chargers are a great idea

Active Travel to/from the Hub Currently the hall is only really accessible by car. The hub should have improved access for pedestrians and cyclists Better access without a car is crucial, we need better footpaths or cycle paths for hub users.

Accessibility Accessibility is very important – ramps and flat access to rooms and buildings Making the hub fully accessible is a priority.

A hub would require paid staff on site to realise the potential I think we need paid staff to support this A paid hub coordinator makes sense Who will manage facilities in the future – can’t just be volunteers but paid staff will be expensive.

We should open to people outside the community to help meet running costs. Can space in the hub be rented to NHS or Social Care outreach

Increase use of hub for visitors / tourists and services

And finally, there were plenty of suggestions which didn't quite fit in the above sections.

You can browse a selection by clicking on each picture:

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A newsletter about what's going on at the hub

A sharing shed or community larder

A community market garden

Considering existing hall users while developing the hub

Last but not least...

Thank you! The steering group are delighted so many of you gave your time to provide feedback.

Your thoughts and opinions are crucial as the community move forward with the hub development project.

If you do have anything further to add, or if you know of someone who would like a paper copy of this information, then please contact your Community Development Officer, Jessica Boughey:07903 999646or jessica@strathnairndevelopment.scot

Click the icon for an opinion

Could we just extend the community cafe to be open more days?

We could have a permanent cafe space where you can help yourself to items so it wouldn't need as many staff / volunteers

The current cafe is fantastic

I would like a cafe in the new hub

Click each icon for an opinion

I would not want a commercial cafe at all.

I think the infrequency of the cafe works well. So a full time commercial cafe wouldn't work.

Click each icon for an opinion

I would support a commercial café venture as long as it wasn’t expensive. I think it would provide an employment opportunity for someone in Strathnairn. It could be a social enterprise.

I support a commercialised café as long as it is community led with paid employment for someone in the community. A social enterprise basis would work.

A pump track is a purpose built track for cycling or any other kind of wheeled sports equipment like scooters or skateboards.When ridden properly, you don't need much pedaling or pushing to get around the loop.

What is a Pump Track?

The current cafe is a great success