After an extensive community and stakeholder consultation and engagement exercise, Councillors are to discuss the future of sport, leisure and cultural services at a special meeting on 20 November.
A report will still be brought to the Full Council meeting on Wednesday 29 October, setting out the work undertaken to date to look at service and facility changes and providing an update on other elements of the Joint Transformational Change Programme we are progressing with Live Borders.
Thousands of responses
The joint engagement activities included:
- An online survey and Easy Read version – completed by over 1900 individuals and community groups
- Face-to-face community drop-in engagement events in 19 communities and at the Border Union Show – attended by over 800 people
- Suggestion boxes available in Live Borders facilities – over 800 comment cards completed
- 21 direct engagement events with identified key community groups and stakeholders, such as community councils, town teams and development trusts
- Youth engagement through events, activities and a dedicated survey – input received from over 1300 individuals
Councillor Euan Jardine, Council Leader
“Over the last four months we have captured the feedback of thousands of residents, community organisations and other key stakeholders.
“The task of analysing all that information and taking it into consideration to help reach recommendations is ongoing but it is taking significantly more time than had been anticipated, due to the volume and quality of the feedback.
“Decisions on the future of our sport, leisure and cultural facilities will be among the most important we take during this Administration’s term in office, and it is essential that we do not rush that process and have enough time for all Elected Members to assess the proposals before debating them in the Council Chamber.
“It is critical to emphasise that changes around sport, leisure and cultural properties will only address part of the challenges being faced by Live Borders, but I believe all Elected Members have been encouraged by the vision and leadership shown by Catriona McAllister, the new Chief Executive of Live Borders, and it is becoming clear that a holistic plan of action is forming which can deliver financial sustainability.”