VIPs open new £450k community hub at Stepps

Rufus Bellamy joined local MP Hugh Gaffney and local MSP Fulton MacGregor to cut the ribbon at Red Deer Village on Saturday, September 9.

In association with the BH&HPA (the British Holiday & Home Parks Association) David Bellamy runs a conservation awards and support scheme for parks.

Red Deer Village is already the proud recipient of numerous silver Awards and won a gold last year, with high hopes of retaining it for 2017-18.

The scheme encourages parks to have a mix of wild and cultivated areas to maximise habitat for butterflies, bees, insects and other types of wildlife.

Rufus Bellamy said he was “delighted” to represent his father who visited the park a few years ago.

“We are delighted that this amazing hub building is now officially open, “said John Hendry who has owned and run Red Deer Village with his brother Ivan for the past thirteen years.

“Our enormous thanks go to our three guests today – Rufus who is here to represent the park industry, and whom we hope we have impressed with our park landscaping which is a full time job for our gardening team, and our two local politicians who have both made time in their busy schedules to come along.

“We are very grateful and are pleased that everyone has been impressed with the size and scale of the community hub – it’s a stunning, light filled building which will be very well used by our local residents here on the park, a place where they can gather and relax.”

“We plan to hold lots of events in the hub with local community groups,” said Ivan Hendry. “There is already talk of a book club, of a craft group and all sorts of other events with entertainment sessions, talks and so on. We are sure it will be very well used indeed, and an asset to the park. We are all very excited to have made it a reality for our residents, it’s exactly what we wanted for them.”

As Ivan outlined, the new community hub, an eco friendly building manufactured by Pathfinder Homes, one of the biggest names in the park home industry, represents a huge investment in the business.

“It is a lot of money to spend, but well worth it, “ said John Hendry. “Pathfinder tell us it’s the biggest one in the UK they have manufactured so far. It also took over eighteen months in the planning and over six months to build and complete, as it is a proper building, not some sort of sales cabin.

Commenting on the opening of the hub, Bruce MacDonald, Pathfinder Homes Managing Director said: “We were thrilled to be awarded the contract to build the hub for Red Deer Village. As a 60ft x 40ft structure built on a steel chassis, this the first of its kind and are very proud to be the only manufacturers to have created something so architecturally brilliant! Working with Red Deer Village has been an immense pleasure and we are really excited to work with them on future projects!”

The Hendry brothers explained that a variety of local suppliers from all over Glasgow and Lanarkshire had helped to create the hub. “Many of them are trusted family firms we have worked with for many years,” said Ivan, “such as Hi-Lite Electrical Services from Barrhead, Vincent Coyle Plumbing from Motherwell, Jem Carpets, Bishopbriggs, and Craigmarloch Nurseries from Kilsyth.”

“We also used our own in house team of maintenance workers and gardeners too, “ said John, “Our thanks go to everyone who has worked so hard to complete the hub in time for today’s ceremony.”

Red Deer Village was bought by the Hendrys as a rundown, disused carpark with virtually no landscaping on the site. Building it up from scratch to become the five star gated park it is today, housing approximately eighty residents in fifty luxurious park homes, Red Deer Village now has numerous industry awards under its belt, for both conservation and professional management. The business also includes a self catering holiday park.

Having both lived abroad, and seen how other residential parks are offered to the market in countries such as Canada, the US and Australia, the two brothers have always been committed to making their residential park the very best it can be, a real community, with added value for residents.

Finished John Hendry: “We have travelled extensively and used all our knowledge in this business to create a park which we believe stands out from the crowd. We want to exceed expectations of what a residential park can be nowadays. We offer quality stock with park homes from some of the very best manufacturers in the industry, and we take real care and attention over our professional landscaping to create a park that has the visual wow factor.”