The Community Council exists to facilitate the well-being of our area. We want to focus our activities on things that will benefit those who live here. To this end we have a number of priority areas
Roads are key for communication and economic growth in our area. There is a large network of small single track roads. Our priority here is to ensure that roads are well maintained, to identify where simple measures could be taken to improve safety and to note where road design is poorly matched to the traffic using the road. As a result of our work we have seen new 40mph speed limits in Nenthorn and Smailholm, and a significant improvement in the rate at which potholes are repaired.
Telecommunications are the second key area. We believe that good telecommunication are fundamental to the economic life of our area, and yet we have over half of properties in the area with an internet speed of less than 10 Mbps. The Scottish Government has promised full high speed broadband coverage, but the deadlines keep slipping. We continue to work with our MSP’s and MP to ensure that the promised programme is delivered.
Community Projects. As a council we have supported a number of small projects in our area, from funding new benches, paying for materials for footpaths, supporting village gardens and providing financial support for a defibrillator. We are always looking out for community based projects where we can help by supplying top up funding, or accessing SBC community funds.
Planning. As a community council we are requested to comment on planning applications. In most cases we would want to be supportive of investment in our area, but there may be issues that we know about that might result in us asking further questions.
In recent times we have begun to ask ourselves about what we can do to promote sustainable growth. How can we see our area flourish, while avoiding negative environmental impact – or better still how can we flourish and have a positive impact on the environment. If you are enthusiastic about these issues, and have ideas about what we might be able to do why not contact us and see how we can help.
