ROTHIENORMAN COMMUNITY ACTION SURVEY/PLAN

Rothienorman Main Street

Rothienorman is situated on the B9001, 10 miles North of Inverurie at the crossroads to Rothie Vale (East) and to Blackford (West). It grew with the opening in 1857 of the Banff, Macduff and Turriff Junction Railway from Inverurie to Macduff, and became the local market point for the surrounding rural community.

Ltd Rothienorman Community Action Survey

ROTHIENORMAN COMMUNITY ACTION SURVEY: INTRODUCTION

Rothienorman has grown substantially over the last five years and Rothienorman Community Association (RCA) wanted to assess how well integrated were the newcomers into the community and to see if facilities, services and activities were appropriate for the increased size of the village.

Rothienorman: Population Growth 1991-2011

1991 2001 2011 Increase Census Census Census 2001 - 2011 423 539 913 69%

Aberdeenshire Council Community Learning and Development (CLD) led the survey, assisted by the Formartine Partnership (FP), one of whose remits is community engagement. These two and Formartine Community Planning Group (FCPG) funded the survey. A Community Action Survey (CAS) was used, rather than Planning for Real®, as the former had been successful in Balmedie, another rapidly growing community.

A Community Action Survey employs researchers to collect and analyse the data rather than relying on information volunteered at a Public Exhibition. Public meetings are held to inform the community about the survey, its progress and to endorse the results. In Rothienorman two students from the village were employed, supervised by a steering committee from Rothienorman Community Association, CLD and FP. A questionnaire was developed and piloted, then distributed to every household in the village and collected back by the researchers. 400 questionnaires were distributed, 175 were returned, a return rate of 44%. The questions covered the issues: integration; appropriateness of facilities, services and activities; issues relating to public transport and access to doctors’ surgeries and the village’s general waste recycling skip. The researchers then analysed and presented the results at a Community Fair, where supplementary surveys covering young people, public transport and access to health facilities were also presented.

The Survey itself was completed in January 2012 and presented, together with the Supplementary Surveys at a Community Fair in September 2012. The raw results of the Survey, including the Supplementary Surveys, are presented in Section I of this document. During 2015 they were analysed by FP and presented to RCA, CLD, FCPG and the Hall Committee, who together provided updates and identified which issues had still to be addressed and actioned (Section II). These actions are summarised in Section III, the Action Plan, and presented as an Action Plan Table, Section IV.

Rothienorman Community Action Survey: Dates

Main Questionnaire (March 2011 to January 2012) induction, trial, distribution, collection, analysis Start Mar-11 RCA Open Meeting- Preliminary results Sep-11 Questionnaire- Final Results Jan-12

Supplementary Surveys Young People’s Supplementary Survey Mar-12 Community Fair- Overall Results (including Young People, Transport, Health access) Sep-12

Associated publications Rothienorman Profile Sep-11 Rothienorman Handbook (Initial) Aug-12 Rothienorman Handbook (Updated) 2013

Action Plan First draft completed and circulated to RCA, CLD, FCPG and Hall Committee Jun-15 Rothienorman Community Association meeting to finalise issues and priorities Aug-15 2

Rothienorman Community Action Survey

Section IA. COMMUNITY ACTION SURVEY: RAW RESULTS

Questionnaire: Distribution and Return Q2): How long have you lived in Rothienorman?

no. % no. % Distributed 400 100.0 Less than 1 year 1 0.6 Returned 175 43.8 1-5 years 62 36.7 5-10 years 24 14.2 11-15 years 31 18.3 16-20 years 9 5.3 Over 20 years 42 24.9 Total 169 100.0

The survey reflects the recent growth of the village with 37% of respondents having lived in the village for less than 5 years and 51% for less than 10 years. The significance of such a high return rate indicates that the Survey has reached both newcomers and established and the comments do in fact reflect both.

1. Integration Despite the rapid recent growth, integration of the newcomers seems to have been reasonably well achieved as 65% of respondents feel they are involved in the community and 71% feel that Rothienorman is a welcoming community.

Q3): My family feel involved within the community. Q4): Rothienorman is a welcoming community.

no. % no. % Strongly agree 43 25.4 Strongly agree 39 22.7 Agree 67 39.6 Agree 83 48.3 Neither 57 33.7 Neither 41 23.8 Disagree 2 1.2 Disagree 9 5.2 Strongly disagree 0 0.0 Strongly disagree 0 0.0 Total 169 100.0 Total 172 100.0

The same outlook is illustrated in response to Question 5:

Q5): What do you like about living in Rothienorman?

Q5): Most frequent comments 1. ‘Friendly’; 2. ‘Safe’; 3. ‘Quiet village’.

Individual comments overwhelmingly reflect this general satisfaction as well as an appreciation of the benefits of living in Rothienorman, including a comment on Q6) ‘I don’t dislike anything’:

Q5): Individual comments Good for children ‘Good place for young children’; ‘Freedom for children to play safe’; ‘Children well settled in school.’

Good for adults ‘Friendly neighbours’; ’Welcoming people’; Community feeling’; ‘Peace and quiet’; ‘Peaceful’; ‘Relaxing way of life’; ‘People are more than willing to lend a hand’. Q6) ‘I don’t dislike anything.’

However, although the survey results regarding integration and satisfaction are very positive, there is a minority of negative responses. In the tables relating to Questions 3 and 4, 1% do not feel involved and 5% 3

Rothienorman Community Action Survey

disagree that Rothienorman is a welcoming community. There is also the stark single answer to Question 5: What do you like about living in Rothienorman, of ‘not much’!

Individual answers to Question 6: What do you dislike about living in Rothienorman; also illustrate a lingering doubt whether integration has been fully achieved:

Q6): What do you dislike about living in Rothienorman?

Negative comments Q6): Individual comments Newcomers ‘Took long time to feel welcome in the village’; ‘If you’re not from Rothie people look down on you’; ‘There is an impression of resentment from some of the long-standing residents to new-comers’; ‘Not much’ (to Q5); Established residents ‘All the new buildings’; ‘Growing too fast; ‘Segregation between new and old’; ‘Bigger village means the village has lost its sense of community’.

2. Services, Facilities and Activities However, the two most frequent answers to Question 6: What do you dislike about living in Rothienorman, relate to services. These are illustrated below and developed further in Questions 7 to 14.

Q6): What do you dislike about living in Rothienorman?

Q6): Most frequent comments 1. ‘No doctor/Post Office/chemist/bank/waste skip’; 2. ‘Lack of public transport’; 3. ‘I don’t dislike anything’.

As can be seen from 3 above, the responses to this question continue to illustrate the strength of integration and involvement, but also move on to highlight respondents’ views about which services and facilities should be improved or increased.

Q6): Individual comments ‘Not enough shops/ restaurants/ takeaways’; ‘Lack of facilities for middle teens’; ‘Not much for kids’; ‘Very few local activities’; ‘Commute to work’; ‘No tennis courts’.

Q7): There are enough community activities in Rothienorman.

no. % Strongly agree 22 13.1 Agree 37 22.0 Neither 47 28.0 Disagree 49 29.2 Strongly disagree 13 7.7 Total 168 100.0

Question 7 is the only question where there is no clear result. Comments are divided between 35% satisfaction with the number of activities, 37% dissatisfaction and 28% neutral.

Q8): What activities would you like to see available in Rothienorman?

Q8): Most frequent suggestions 1. ‘Badminton’; 2. ‘Activities for younger people’; 3. ‘Youth café’. 4

Rothienorman Community Action Survey

There is a very wide range of individual answers to Question 8 including:

Activities for Q8): Suggestions Children ‘Children’s activities’; ‘Dancing and football classes’; ‘Trampoline’.

Young people ‘Youth café’; ‘Something where kids from 15 up can go and socialise’; ‘Something for teens’; ‘Drop-in centre for secondary school children’; ‘Youth club/summer activities’; ‘More discos’; ‘Support groups for young people for those leaving academy, struggling at school’.

Older people ‘Keep fit’; ‘Yoga/Pilates’; ‘Walking Club’; ‘Over 50’s Activities- walking, rambling, tea dances’; ‘Sport and activities for the less able – gentle exercise’; Disability Friendly Group’; ‘Adult classes’.

Whole community ‘Community café’; ‘Drama group’; ‘Craft classes’; ‘Dog training classes’.

Sports ‘Badminton’; ‘Swimming pool’; ‘Gym’; ‘Tennis’.

Although there is a wide range of individual responses, the largest number relates to activities for young people.

To develop this, the questionnaire asks if respondees are interested in particular activities and a contact list has been collected for two activities: those who are interested in Badminton and in Yoga/Pilates.

Question 9 investigates the preferred times for new activities:

Q9): If there were more activities in Rothienorman would you attend and what times would suit you?

The most popular choices are weekends and all weekday evenings, giving flexibility for many activities.

Q10) Place of work: Q10): I Work:

no. % Within the village; 9 5.3 Locally; 18 10.7 Aberdeenshire; 46 27.2 Aberdeen; 24 14.2 Outwith Aberdeen/shire; 26 15.4 Retired; 35 20.7 Unemployed; 11 6.5 Total 169 100.0

COMMENT

Clearly Rothienorman is a commuter village, as between 60% and 70% of respondents commute out of Rothienorman for work.

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Q11): What is the main method of transport in the household? Q12): Do you regularly use public transport?

no. % no. % Car 141 83.9 Yes 29 18.6 Bus 21 12.5 No 114 73.1 Motorbike 4 2.4 Sometimes 13 8.3 Train 0 0 Total 156 100 Other 2 1.2 Total 168 100

COMMENT

Of the 60%-70% of respondents who leave the village for work, 83% use a car while only 12.5% use public transport as the main method of transport. Answers for Question 12 emphasise this further, for 73% do not regularly use public transport and only 19% use it regularly. The three main reasons given are:

Q12): Most frequent comments 1. ‘Not enough buses’; 2. ‘Bus times do not coincide well with other bus routes’; 3. ‘Many people drive to get the train’.

In addition, there is a wide range of individual comments:-

Topic Q12): Individual comments Not enough buses ‘Not enough buses’; ‘Virtually none available’; ‘No, there isn’t any’.

Bus times do not coincide ‘Unsuitable times’; ‘Bus times are not convenient and don’t run enough’; ‘No, ridiculous times that don’t coincide with Inverurie services’; ‘Would like to see connecting bus routes to Insch, Huntly, Inverurie and Aberdeen’.

Buses impractical ‘Not practical with small children’; ‘Not enough buses for disabled access’; ‘Lack of links to essential services (Health Centres)’; ‘Due to impracticality of buses people have to find other methods of getting places’.

Drive for the train ‘Not from Rothienorman but often drive to Inverurie for the train to Aberdeen’; ‘Have to drive to Inverurie for the train station, a bit of a hassle’; ‘Sometimes get the train to Aberdeen’.

Does use public transport. ‘Shopping in Inverurie’.

Q13): I often use the Recycling Skip at the Village Hall Q14): I regularly use local businesses

no. % no. % Yes 109 66.9 Yes 109 67.7 No 26 16.0 No 23 14.3 Sometimes 28 17.2 Sometimes 29 18.0 Total 163 100.0 Total 161 100.0 6

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COMMENT

Question 13: “I often use the Recycling Skip at the Village Hall” was included because, while this consultation was being carried out, the Council’s general waste recycling skip in the village was threatened with closure. This question is included to assess how well it is used and whether there is a case to support its continuation. Clearly the table demonstrates that it is widely used and would be missed.

Question 14: “I regularly use local businesses” is included to assess whether respondents use these. Clearly the majority does, but the steering committee wanted to increase the sustainability of the local economy and inform newcomers what services are available, so it produced the Rothienorman Community Handbook, which lists local services, groups and activities their contact details. This is available in the local shop.

Q15): Any further comments?

Q15): Most frequent comments 1. ‘Improvement of public transport’; 2. ‘Increase in community activities’; 3. ‘Much need for re-introduction of the Recycling Skip’.

Q15): Detailed comments

Topic Q15): Comments Public transport ‘Improvement of bus services would encourage public use’; ‘Would like to see bus services to Oldmeldrum’; ‘More buses put on especially to Fyvie and Oldmeldrum’; ‘Bus times to coincide with other buses and train services’. Community activities ‘Playgroup afternoon sessions as there is no space left in the morning’; ‘More teen activities needed within the village’; ‘More events within the village to bring the community together would be nice’; ‘It would be nice to see a garden project introduced for the community to get involved’. Skip ‘A lot of people missing the skip’; ‘The skip will be missed especially in the summer due to the amount of garden waste’. Community integration ‘Rothienorman is the “best kept secret in the north east,” with a great community spirit’; and satisfaction. ‘Generally a good place to live, although segregation is still evident’; ‘The new housing developments within Rothienorman don't seem part of the community, especially with the way they have been designed, almost seem like another village’; ‘Content’. Facilities and amenities ‘Community Hall, sports field and pavilion are of a very high standard’; ‘Rothienorman needs a more central village hub; re-introduction of the village Post Office would be nice’; ‘Fast-food outlet would be useful and shop signs could be made more evident’; ‘More dog bins required in the village especially on the main street’; ‘Path ways around the dog walk would be useful’; ‘Lack of buggy and wheelchair access around Rothienorman especially on walk’s; ‘More amenities needed around the village; Public toilets could be doing with updating’. Miscellaneous ‘The roundabout at entrance to Scotia Homes has not been made as visible as it could have been and has resulted in a few close calls’; ‘Bowling Club car park looks very dull now with the removal of the trees’.

COMMENT

These reinforce comments and views reported in the earlier more specific questions. 7

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Section IB. SUPPLEMENTARY SURVEY RESULTS

i. Young People

a. Young People’s Survey- Our Ideal Rothienorman

This flow chart, produced by the young people, shows the various ideas that they would like to see in Rothienorman. A lot say they would like somewhere to meet, either inside or outside, as there is not a place in Rothienorman for this. Otherwise, they suggest a similar range of activities to those in the main survey.

b. Young People’s Questionnaire- Most frequent responses

W What do you like about living in Rothienorman? Wh What do you dislike about living in Rothienorman?

1. ‘Close to my friends’; 1. ‘Not a lot of activities for young people/teenagers’; 2. ‘Nice quiet place’; 2. ‘Nowhere to hang out in bad weather’; 3. ‘People are friendly’. 3. ‘Bad bus timetable’.

What activities would you like to see for young If there were more activities in Rothie would you people? attend them?

1. ‘A skate park’; YES: 20 replies; 2. ‘A youth club’; MAYBE: 5 replies; 3. ‘A modern dance group’. NO: 2 replies.

Do you regularly use public transport in What issues are there with public transport in Rothienorman? Rothienorman?

NO: 20 replies; 1. ‘It hardly ever comes here’; YES: 3 replies; 2. ‘It’s unreliable sometimes, especially in bad weather’; SOMETIMES: 2 replies. 3. ‘The times aren’t very frequent’; 4. ‘No bus service on a Sunday’; 5. ‘The times aren’t suitable’.

Similar issues and activities are identified as in the main Survey, which gave Youth activities a high priority. 8

Rothienorman Community Action Survey ii. Public transport- Additional information a. Rothienorman Community Fair 8th September 2012

As the Community Action Survey highlights that public transport is of such widespread concern, a follow-up survey was carried out at Rothienorman Community Fair on 8th Sept 2012. These list further issues with regard to problems with the bus services while the second question gives specific examples of the problem of accessing the local doctors’ surgeries without a car.

Q- Have you any specific concerns regarding the public transport to and from Rothienorman?

Most frequent comments 1. ‘ No bus service to Oldmeldrum’; 2. ‘The bus timetable we have just now is very poor’; 3. ‘No bus service on a Sunday’.

Individual comments ‘We need a more varied bus timetable’; ‘No bus service to Fyvie Health Centre’; ‘First bus out on a Saturday is at 10am- too late for workers’; ‘Kids with Saturday jobs in Inverurie rely on parents to get to jobs due to lack of suitable bus times’; ‘If people go to Inverurie in the evening they have to rely on a taxi to get back as the last bus is around 6’; ‘Could introduce a community bus to take people shopping once a week for a few hours’.

Q- Have you any specific knowledge of difficulties getting to and from health services?

Comments. ‘I find it difficult to arrange an appointment at the Health Centre as it has to match the bus timetables’; ‘When my daughter had to go to Oldmeldrum Health Centre, she had to go from Rothienorman-Inverurie-Oldmeldrum and took much longer and was expensive’; ‘I rely on my friends and neighbours to drive me to clinics as I don’t drive and buses are sometimes unavailable at required times’; ‘A volunteer car service would be handy’.

b. Letter from Fyvie, Rothienorman & Monquhitter Community Council

There is also a letter from the Community Council highlighting the access to Health Services issue:-

Access to Health Services from Rothienorman

An issue which comes up time and time again in Rothienorman is that of the isolation from health centres and pharmacy services. In a village where several housing developments have been completed in the last 20 years, it seems the services needed to support the growing population have not been provided. This was apparent in a Planning for Real Exercise in 2004 and the residents’ Community Action Survey of 2011.

There is no public transport provision to any of the 3 local GP Health centres at which residents are registered. The distances are not exactly suitable for walking either- Fyvie 4 miles, Oldmeldrum 10 miles and Insch 10 miles. There is however a voluntary patient transport service to Insch but the majority of residents are registered with the Fyvie/Oldmeldrum Practice. The limited commercial bus service is suitable for accessing 9

Rothienorman Community Action Survey dental surgeries in Inverurie and Turriff. Similarly this bus can connect with the no.10 service from Inverurie to ARI.

There was a bus to Fyvie until a few years ago but it wasn’t well used as you had to spend 4 hours in Fyvie before you could return! It was understandably withdrawn. We also had a 6 month trial of the A2B bus recently but it only took passengers to Oldmeldrum on a Tuesday. Again it was withdrawn due to lack of use.

The elderly population and young parents in the village with no car during the working day all suffer and find it difficult to arrange lifts from neighbours etc. The population now has many young families with no relatives in the area to offer this type of support.

How do you plan a bus service to meet such needs? The elderly and those with very young children needing to travel in 3 different directions at various times. It would almost have to involve the voluntary sector. Greater awareness of any services on offer currently would help.

One possible solution which could address some of the problems would be to bring the medical suite in the new Rothienorman Primary School into use as a clinic for the use of nurses, midwives, chiropodists or the GP even 1 or 2 days a week. This was suggested by the Consultative Committee when the school was planned 7 years ago but I understand that the NHS declined to accept.

Marion Ewenson (Chair of Fyvie, Rothienorman & Monquhitter C.C.)

c. Rothienorman Community Association Open Meeting 11th September 2011

Rothienorman CAS- Additional Results from Open Meeting

Q1: Why is Rothienorman a welcoming community? 1. ‘Friendly people’; 69% 2. ‘Lots of opportunity for community involvement’; 23% 3. ‘Plenty of Activities’; 4% 4. Other. 4%

Q2: Where would you find public transport most helpful? 1. ‘More to Inverurie’; 41% 2. ‘To health facilities such as Oldmeldrum’; 26% 3. ‘Late night services’; 15% 4. ‘Insch’; 11% 5. ‘To and from work’; 7% 6. Other. 4%

Q3: If there was an increase in public transport would you use it? 1. ‘Yes’; 42% 2. ‘No’; 29% 3. ‘Sometimes’; 25% 4. ‘Never’. 4%

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Rothienorman Community Action Plan

Section II. ROTHIENORMAN COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN Discussion of issues and proposed actions

OVERVIEW. It is very clear from the comments that integration has been reasonably well achieved, though there is a small minority who see it as an issue still.

It is equally clear that the main issues are to improve poor services and to respond to a demand for more activities. The latter may well involve expanding and widening existing facilities. These existing facilities, the Community Hall, Greenview Centre and Playing Field, are well-used, well-liked and complimented, but they may not have the capacity to meet a demand for increased activities. In addition, some of the suggestions require purpose-built facilities anyway.

ISSUE 1. INTEGRATION

The large majority of the respondents feel that they belong and they appreciate the benefits of living in Rothienorman.

However there is a small remnant which feels the opposite. What could be done to solve the latter?

POSSIBLE ACTIONS 1a. Provide information on activities, services and facilities The Rothienorman Community Handbook shows who to contact for activities, services and facilities which will help newcomers to find their way around and to belong. A wider range of activities may help to solve the issue too and would be welcomed by all residents. To continue to be useful, the Handbook needs regular updating.

1b. Develop a toolkit to welcome future newcomers Suggestions include:  Producing a Welcome Pack, which should include The Rothienorman Community Handbook and could be available in the school, shop and surgeries;  A Welcoming Neighbours Scheme, in which neighbours would welcome new arrivals, introduce them to the social scene, and help them make the contacts they need;  Whole community events. There was a suggestion in the responses that more whole community events should be organised.

1c. Social media Using social media was suggested as an effective way to strengthen integration within the community and since the completion of the Survey a Facebook page has been set up, linking Rothienorman parents and residents. It includes details of small businesses, local events and fundraising activities.

ISSUE 2. SERVICES

Clearly, major issues in the Report relate to the need to improve services. Poor bus services, access to health services, including doctors’ surgeries, and the lack of a bank, Post Office, chemist, fast-food outlet, even the possible removal of the General Waste Recycling Skip are all decried in strong terms. Moreover, the Post Office and Waste Recycling Skip were threatened with removal after the village had expanded and the replacement travelling Post Office often could not access broadband to carry out transactions!

ISSUE 2A. BUS SERVICES (Public Service Operators) Public transport (bus timetabling, frequency and connectivity to other towns) is clearly a major issue. This is well known to both Fyvie, Rothienorman and Monquhitter Community Council and Rothienorman Community

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Association and has proved an intractable issue in the past, so it is difficult to suggest actions which have not already been tried. However, given the recent expansion of Rothienorman and the feedback from this survey, it should be revisited.

POSSIBLE ACTIONS i. Access to Inverurie, and poor onward connections to Aberdeen  Extend some Aberdeen - Inverurie services to Rothienorman (Service 37);  Improve Rothienorman to Inverurie service (Service 308);  Re-route some Aberdeen - Inverurie- Inverness services through Rothienorman (Service 10).

ii. Access to Oldmeldrum and Aberdeen  Extend some Aberdeen – Oldmeldrum services to Rothienorman (Service 35A);  Re-route some Aberdeen – Oldmeldrum - Banff services through Rothienorman (Service 35).  Extend/re-route all these services through Rothienorman particularly on weekday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays.

Comment Taken together these would give:  A service when currently there is none (eg weekday evenings, Saturday mornings, Saturday evenings, all day Sundays);  Access to train services through Inverurie Station;  Direct access to Aberdeen;  Access to after-school activities at Meldrum Academy; and  General access to leisure and shopping facilities at both Inverurie and Aberdeen.

Issues regarding Bus services can be raised at the twice yearly Formartine Bus Forum.

Direct access to Aberdeen  The easiest service to improve may be that to Inverurie (Service 308) and, indeed, since the conclusion of Survey an extra service has been introduced on this route.  The next easiest may be extending services 37 and/or 35A.  There are likely to be problems with re-routing services 10 and 35 for: o Speed and reliability are key requirements for a trunk route so diversions will be resisted; o Beyond Rothienorman, the B992 near Auchterless may be too narrow for large coaches; o However, they might be easier to introduce on evenings and weekends.

iii. Late night weekend return service from Inverurie  Regular users might consider a regular group charter of a private minibus.

ISSUE 2B. ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES Oldmeldrum, Insch and Fyvie GP surgeries serve Rothienorman. All are inaccessible by public transport.

POSSIBLE ACTIONS. i. Hold some routine health services in Rothienorman School There is a community medical facility in Rothienorman School. It is unlikely that surgeries could be held there, but it could be ideal for routine clinics such as chiropody, maternity, mother & baby and vaccinations/inoculations. However, NHS Grampian has never used it.

ii. Access to Oldmeldrum, Insch and Fyvie surgeries  Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) provides a patient transport service to Insch, which could possibly be expanded to cover all three surgeries. It will need to be advertised more widely though.

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Since the Community Action Survey, RVS is advertising for more volunteers to expand the service to Oldmeldrum and Fyvie surgeries. Website www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk Email [email protected]

 A2B Dial a Bus: both Turriff and Inverurie have this service. Oldmeldrum’s has been withdrawn. This might be worth re-visiting. Perhaps a shuttle service to all three surgeries on one or two days each week could be organised. It will need co-operation from the surgeries though to reserve appointments on that day. Again advertising will be required. This will need discussion with Aberdeenshire Council Public Transport Unit and the GPs.

 Community Transport Operators Like A2B, this is another possible option for access to all three surgeries. Discussions would be needed with the two community transport operators based relatively locally:- Banffshire Partnership Community Transport at Boyndie- Website www.banffshirepartners.co.uk/comtrans.htm Buchan Dial a Community Bus at Maud- Website www.dialabus.org.uk/

 Extend/re-route Public Service Bus services to give access to Oldmeldrum See section 2Aii above.

ISSUE 2C. OTHER SERVICES i. General Waste Recycling Skip The Council proposed to withdraw the Waste Skip while the Survey was in progress and it did so.

ii. Post Office The poor signal problem has been improved. However, it is unlikely that there will be any re- instatement of the Post Office itself after the vigorous campaign against closure was ignored.

iii. Fast-food takeaways Those that deliver to Rothienorman could be added to the Handbook or advertised on Facebook.

ISSUE 3. ACTIVITIES

There is much less of a consensus regarding Activities and a very wide range of suggestions were put forward (see Tables for Question 8 pp 4-5). The most frequent were badminton, activities for younger people and a Youth café. A wide range of specific suggestions were put forward by the Young People themselves (see p 8). These include re-instatement of a Youth Club, meeting place/Drop-in Centre, youth café, multi-sports pitch, play park facilities for older children and a skate park.

It may not be straightforward to provide an increase in activities as:  An increased number of activities is likely to require increased activity space which is limited;  Some of these suggestions require new purpose-built, specialist facilities to be constructed;  Many activities require organisers and leaders- sometimes qualified leaders- who have been in short supply in the recent past.

POSSIBLE ACTIONS  Since the Community Action Survey, the Youth Club has re-formed facilitated by CLD.  A new contact list was collected during the Survey and lists of those interested have been established for two activities: badminton and yoga/pilates. A badminton group has been formed but, because of a lack of a suitable venue, it has been unable to start activities.

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 For other activities, perhaps an open meeting for all residents, including young people, to identify which activities have strong support and which can build up a group to progress them, to find a leader to run them (if needed) and to identify or develop suitable facilities.

ISSUE 4. FACILITIES ISSUE 4A. EXISTING FACILITIES There is strong support for Rothienorman’s existing facilities and the Rothienorman Community Hall, Greenview Centre and Playing field were each specifically complimented in the responses as being of a very high standard. The main challenge is that they are all close to capacity!

i. Rothienorman Community Hall The Hall Committee has kept the Hall in a very good condition with regular maintenance and ongoing small-scale upgrades. The Hall is essential to the vast majority of Rothienorman’s current indoor activities and the Hall Committee feel that the time is ripe for a comprehensive upgrade to cater for the likely increase in use resulting from the increase in population.

This comprehensive upgrade has four aspects:- a. A comprehensive upgrade of the insulation, a reduction in heat loss through the entrance, fire escapes and windows, and a replacement of the heating system. This will allow the Hall to continue to play its part as Rothienorman’s essential indoor facility, by keeping it warm, comfortable, attractive to use and cheap to heat. As a first action, the Committee has installed a Biomass Boiler in summer 2015; b. Replacement of the floor which has warped and distorted due to poor ventilation in the space below the floor. The Hall Committee is raising funds for this and intends to carry out the work over summer 2017 to minimise disruption to activities; c. Construction of a large insulated porch to reduce heat loss through the front doors and provide a secure pram park to protect both the prams and the new floor; and d. Replacement of the kitchen and toilets.

The Committee feels that without these improvements, the Hall will lose its place in the hearts of the community, lose support and many activities will also slip. The Hall Committee has been addressing funding for the upgrade. The Committee has been strengthened and the Constitution updated in order to meet the requirements of the large funding bodies. It has also been holding fundraising events and visiting other newly upgraded Village Halls elsewhere to get ideas and advice.

ii. Greenview Centre This, the new Pavilion for the Bowling Club, is also available for general use particularly in the winter. Recently, a Log Cabin has been constructed to provide a changing area for the bowlers.

iii. Rothienorman School This is a new community school heavily used by the community, particularly in the early evening. It was built using a PPI scheme and existing contracts make it inflexible to use outside these times.

ISSUE 4B. NEW FACILITIES Given the likely increase in demand from the growing aspirations of the larger population, the existing facilities may not be sufficient. It is likely that an increase in meeting spaces will be required.

POSSIBLE ACTIONS iii. Expansion of the Hall with additional meeting rooms as part of the comprehensive upgrade; iv. Construction of specific facilities which would be required for some of the suggested activities such as a a community café, a play park for older children, a multi-sports pitch or a skateboarding park.

This may be addressed by encouraging the community to form Action Groups to develop facilities. 14

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Section III. SUMMARY OF PRIORITY ACTIONS

ISSUE 1. INTEGRATION Continue to use and expand the newly established village Facebook, update the Rothienorman Community Handbook and establish a Welcome toolkit

ISSUE 2. SERVICES ISSUE 2A. BUS SERVICES  Public Service Operators Explore with Stagecoach at the Formartine Bus Forum the possibility of: o Increasing services further on Service 308 to/from Inverurie; o Extending Service 37 to/from Inverurie; o Extending Service 35A to/from Oldmeldrum.

 Community Transport Operators and A2B Dial a bus Explore whether they could give a service to Inverurie and Oldmeldrum. See contacts below- ISSUE 2B.

ISSUE 2B. ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES i. Hold some routine health services in Rothienorman School Discuss its feasibility with the School, NHS Grampian, Robertson and Aberdeenshire Education Service.

ii. Access to Oldmeldrum, Insch and Fyvie GP surgeries a. Support the Royal Voluntary Service (Inverurie) which provides a patient transport service for Insch GP Surgery and Community Hospital and is currently advertising for more volunteer drivers to expand the service to Oldmeldrum and Fyvie GP Surgeries. www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk; 01467 626012; [email protected]

b. A2B Dial a bus. Turriff and Inverurie have a service. That for Oldmeldrum has been withdrawn. This might be worth re-visiting. Perhaps a shuttle service to all three surgeries on one or two days per week could be organised. It will need co-operation from the surgeries though to reserve appointments on that day. This will need discussion with Aberdeenshire Transportation Unit.

c. Community Transport Operators Like A2B, this is another possible option for access to all three surgeries. Discussions would be needed with the two community transport operators based relatively locally: Banffshire Partnership Community Transport www.banffshirepartners.co.uk/comtrans.htm Buchan Dial a Community Bus www.dialabus.org.uk/

ISSUE 3. ACTIVITIES i. Youth Club Has re-formed in the Hall led by Community Learning and Development (CLD). ii. Badminton Has re-formed but has no suitable venue available to play.

Hold an open meeting to identify which activities have strong support within the community and which can build up a group to progress them, find a leader to run them (if needed) and develop the activity.

ISSUE 4. FACILITIES ISSUE 4A. EXISTING FACILITIES  Support Rothienorman Hall Committee with its plans for a comprehensive upgrade.

ISSUE 4B. NEW FACILITIES  Explore the possibility of building a Hall extension perhaps over part of the car park;  Support the formation of groups to develop specific facilities.

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Rothienorman Community Action Plan

Section IV. ROTHIENORMAN PRIORITY ACTIONS- Summary Table

Issue/ Action. Lead Organisation. Partners. Date.

1. INTEGRATION i. Facebook, Handbook, Welcome toolkit Develop, use and expand these. RCA n/a Already established

2. SERVICES 2A. BUS SERVICES 1. Public Service Operators (Mainly Stagecoach) Stagecoach; At the Bus Forum explore the possibility of: FRM; RCA Short-term Action AC Public Transport Unit i. Increasing services further on Service 308 to/from Inverurie;

ii. Extending some services on Service 37 to/from Inverurie; iii. Extending some services on Service 35A to/from Oldmeldrum.

2. Community Transport Operators and A2B Dial-a-bus Explore provision of a service to Inverurie and Oldmeldrum with:

Banffshire Partnership Community Transport, FRM; RCA AC Public Transport Unit Short-term Action Buchan Dial a Community Bus, FRM; RCA AC Public Transport Unit Short-term Action Aberdeenshire Council Public Transport Unit (A2B). FRM; RCA AC Public Transport Unit Short-term Action

2B. ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES 1. Hold routine health clinics in the School: RCA NHS Grampian; Robertson; Short-term Action Chiropody, maternity, mother & baby, vaccinations. AC Education, FCPG

2. Access to surgeries (Insch, Fyvie and Oldmeldrum) i. Royal Voluntary Service:-

Insch Surgery; RCA Insch already established

Fyvie & Oldmeldrum Surgeries. RCA Currently advertising for drivers 2015-2016

3. ACTIVITIES

i. Youth club is re-established led by CLD. CLD. Already established ii. Badminton group formed but no suitable venue available. Badminton Club. CLD, RCA, Hall Committee Medium-term Action iii. Facilitate Activity Group formation, identify leaders & premises. CLD. RCA, Hall Committee Medium-term Action

4. FACILITIES 4A. EXISTING FACILITIES 1. Rothienorman Community Hall Boiler installed 2015

Comprehensive Upgrade: boiler, floor, insulation, toilets, kitchen. Hall Committee Formartine Partnership New floor 2017 rest medium-term 2. School Explore possibility of increasing community access. RCA Robertson, CLD, School, FCPG Short-term Action

4B. NEW FACILITIES 1. Increase meeting rooms by expanding Hall. Hall Committee AC; Formartine Partnership Medium-term Action

2. Support the formation of groups to develop specific facilities. CLD, RCA, Groups Formartine Partnership Medium-term Action

ABBREVIATIONS: RCA- Rothienorman Community Association; FRM- Fyvie, Rothienorman and Monquhitter Community Council; FCPG- Formartine Community Planning Group; AC- Aberdeenshire Council; CLD- AC Community Learning and Development.

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