Residents in the Tillydrone area of Aberdeen have had their say on what the priorities should be for their community including the location of a £3million Community Hub.
Aberdeen City Council held a one-week consultation with people in the area in March to find out what is important to them.
People from the City Council and partner organisations captured people’s views using a range of media including iPads, on-line surveys, and paper surveys.
The consultation event was held to better understand what is important to the residents of Tillydrone, including finding out what would be important to include in the new Community Hub, and where such a new development may go.
There were 455 responses. Of these, 35% were male and 65% were female. There were responses from all age ranges in the local community.
When asked about their preferred location for the hub, 40% identified the current site of the Tillydrone shopping centre, and 24% identified the previous Tilly Youth Project site.
Respondents identified the Community Hub could be used for a range of activities, the most favoured activities being: a meeting place, a café/catering facilities, somewhere to get information and advice and job support, a childcare facility and somewhere to access fitness classes. Each of these received more than 50% of responses.
There were lots of positive comments about the local area including its sense of community. There were also some improvements that were identified and lots of ideas for how these improvements could be progressed including: having a local clear up; getting people together to help older people; having better shops, having places to sit outside and inside; more dog bins and green areas; more activities for younger children.
Aberdeen City Council Regeneration and Transport Spokesman Councillor Ross Grant said it was good that residents took part in the consultation.
He said: “The people of Tillydrone need to help to shape what facilities are provided at the new £3million Community Hub, and where it will be sited, so it was great that so many residents took part in the consultation week.
“We’ll take the results and analyse them further and we’ll hold more events in the coming months so people can get a chance to comment again on what the community has said so far.”
This was the first step in a longer consultation process which will also include site visits to see other community hubs amongst other approaches.
Partner organisations which took part in the consultation included Aberdeen Lads Club, St Machar Parents Support Project, Tilly Flat, NHS Grampian, M26, Tillydrone Community Council, Lighthouse Support Centre, Tillydrone Community Centre, Tillydrone Family Centre, and Aberdeen City Youth Council.
The findings of the consultation will be considered by the City Council in due course and it will make the final decision about the location of the hub.