Show your support for Lanark Castlebank plan

While the smaller building has been converted into toilets for volunteers working in the new Horticultural Centre created by Lanark Community Development Trust, transforming the large building into a modern space is going to take a lot of money!

The Trust, working with local groups, has already turned the former tennis courts into a growing centre, with raised beds and two huge polytunnels, one of which is used by Lanark in Bloom to bring on plants to brighten up the town.

More planting is taking place at the site of the pond, after attempts to restore it as a pond came to nothing, and the terraced gardens are starting to bloom again.

The park is blossoming as a result of all the work, and it has been busy with visiting families again all summer.

Now the Trust is seeking Lottery funding to convert the second derelict sawmill building into some sort of classroom and display space, and the public are going to be asked for their views on the future of this building and whether they would use it as a community hub.

Community Enterprise, a social enterprise agency supporting the Trust, is holding a public consultation day later this month.

“We have come in to help them with the next phase,” said Sarah Forster from Community Enterprise.

“We are having the community consultation to help the Trust show there is a need in the area, and that people would want it and would use the building.

“We are trying to find that out from the community.”

People might want to use it for classes, or as a venue for meetings.

The main consultation is in Lanark Tolbooth, on Thursday, September 17, from 3pm to 8pm, and that is a drop-in event but with a presentation at 4pm and 7pm.

Survey forms will also be available in the library and doctors’ surgeries, and the survey is available on-line at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Castlebank