Community urged to take part in online survey for John O'Groats playpark project
A group working to create a major playpark at John O'Groats is urging as many people as possible to fill in an online survey that will help take the ambitious plans to the next stage.
The aim is to provide state-of-the-art, multi-generational recreational facilities in memory of local woman Julie McGee, who died suddenly in April at the age of 44.
A public consultation event took place on Saturday in the village hall, giving members of the community a chance to see the plans and have their say.
As well as enhancing the village itself, the project is being promoted as having county-wide appeal. It is hoped businesses in John O'Groats will benefit as more families are encouraged to spend time in the area.
The plans are being driven by a subcommittee of John O'Groats Development Trust along with Alistair Jack, development trust support officer for Caithness Voluntary Group. They include a £300,000-£325,000 seaside-themed playpark, a £100,000 pump track and a £100,000 multi-use games area (MUGA).
The playpark will be fully inclusive for children aged from one to 14, including those with disabilities. The pump track will be suitable for bikes, scooters, skateboards, roller boots and even some wheelchairs, while the all-weather MUGA will allow youngsters and adults to play basketball, hockey, tennis, badminton, netball, volleyball and five-a-side football.
The proposals also include a recreational park with paths, trees, shrubs, benches, picnic area and sensory garden, as well as parking facilities.
The proposed site for the project is the existing playpark next to the village football pitch.
The subcommittee is considering two choices of equipment – one is a robinia timber build from Russell Play and the other is a galvanised steel system from Kompan.
A video about the plans for the playpark was released ahead of the public consultation.
A JustGiving page has also been set up by the subcommittee to help raise £50,000 towards the funding.
Mairi Anne Cormack, one of Julie's friends helping to drive the project forward, explained: "When Julie and her family moved back north she quickly became involved supporting local groups such as the Canisbay Primary School Parent Council, John O'Groats Junior FC and Canisbay Youth Club. Especially through the parent council, I became close to Julie so losing her has been a real blow on so many levels. I can’t even imagine how hard it is for her family.
"Several of us, friends and group members, had mentioned doing something in memory of Julie when the time was right. For me, I had thought of something along the lines of a memorial bench at Huna pier where Julie and I swam regularly.
"However, it was at the John O'Groats Junior FC annual general meeting, where Willie Ross came forward with the idea of going for funding to upgrade the playpark beside the pitch in Groats, that the vision of something really mega in Julie’s memory came about.
"When we knew we had the blessing of the family to look at taking this forward, a small group of us including Lauren Davidson and Willie Ross approached John O'Groats Development Trust about joining the various committees together – youth club, football club and parent council – and getting the ball rolling.
"Andrew Mowat of the development trust had word that Alistair Jack of Caithness Voluntary Group was going to be available to support us. At that first meeting with Alistair we knew we’d hit the jackpot.
"He has done so much background research for us and we were able to hit the ground running. He has put so much effort into illustrative material for our community consultation on the recreational park development."
Mairi Anne said the playpark will be "of epic proportions for the Caithness area" while emphasising that it is part of a much larger project incorporating the MUGA, pump track, landscaped area and improved parking.
"It was vital at the consultation that the surrounding community understood what we were proposing and were able to see for themselves and discuss the various options available," she said.
"Generally speaking it was very well received by those who turned out – both young and not so young. We had a turnout of three generations from one family, which was wonderful.
"Of course there were some local residents who had concerns, for example with noise and traffic. It was really vital that we heard these concerns so that we can collate this information and look at ways we can address them as we move forward to the next stage.
"As part of the consultation there is an online survey to be filled out – on the day we had support on hand for those who would struggle to do this online at home. The majority of folk were able to take away a QR code or link so that they can fill out the survey at their leisure.
"We can’t stress enough how much participation we need with the survey. In order to future-proof ourselves against grant applications we will need to obtain as many responses to the survey as we possibly can to prove community support for the way forward once it is finalised.
"The survey allows individuals to prioritise the phases of the development, show their support and/or list any concerns."
Mairi Anne added: "This is not just something that’s going to benefit folk local to John O'Groats – it’s a county-wide project and we see it bringing significant economic benefit to local businesses in John O'Groats too, attracting more families to spend time there.
"Once we collate all the data from the community consultation survey, the understanding is that we will need to progress with several workstreams – such as understanding how John O'Groats Development Trust can move forward to take guardianship of the ground around the football pitch which is the location of the proposed development.
"Alongside this we will need to progress with architectural drawings for the proposal and then planning permission. In parallel we will be progressing with the mammoth task of fundraising.
"This will be a mix of grant applications, JustGiving donations and the usual round of raffles and events.
"At the absolute heart of everything we are doing here is to do Julie and her family proud – reminding ourselves of her kind-hearted, fun-loving, hard-working community spirit to keep us going."
More details can be found on the John O'Groats Development Trust Playpark Project Facebook page.
