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Other exciting changes in Hurlford!
In addition to the Pop up Parklet in the village centre, we're delighted that additional items have also been delivered through East Ayrshire Council's Town Centre Regeneration Funding from the Scottish Government .
Repaired Plaque for the Propeller New Cycle and Scooter Parking for Hurlford Primary School
New Community Noticeboard
We would like to thank everyone who has been involved so far in the Hurlford Street Design Project - all of your great ideas and opinions have helped make the installation of the Pop-up Parklet, cycle & scooter parking and community noticeboard happen.
We hope, like us, you feel proud of what has been delivered recently and we look forward to the wider project developing further.
Finally, enjoy spending time in the Parklet and let us know what you think!First steps to reimagine Hurlford Village Centre with new community space
Over the past year, we've all appreciated the benefits quality outdoor space can bring to our daily lives.
In Hurlford, a new community space has been introduced in the Village Centre, thanks to funding from East Ayrshire Council and Sustrans’ Scotland Street Design programme, funded by the Scottish Government.
The temporary changes aim to tackle issues such as inappropriate parking and lack of space to spend time in and move through.
The pop-up parklet is on the corner of Academy Street and Mauchline Road.
It features benches, planters, cycle parking, historical images and surface markings that create an inviting community space for people to play, meet and spend time in the village centre.
After: temporarily transformed into the heart of the village
Reimagining the Village CentreIt's part of the wider Hurlford Street Design Project, a partnership between Sustrans Scotland and East Ayrshire Council.
The local community helped develop a concept design that represents the community’s vision for the village centre.
It aims to celebrate local history and heritage, provide access for all, address vehicle dominance and speeds and enhance public spaces.
Through this process, the local community acknowledged that the public space on the corner of Academy Street and Mauchline Road was previously used inappropriately for parking, and there was a lack of space to spend time in.
From these discussions, the team saw an opportunity to make small, temporary changes that will have a big impact on the way people move through and use the area while the wider project develops.
Before: a neglected space
A taster of things to comeIf successful, the parklet could remain in place until the Hurlford Street Design Project is delivered by East Ayrshire Council or, it could be adapted depending on feedback from the community.
Emily Davie, Sustrans Scotland Street Design Project Co-ordinator said:
“We’ve really enjoyed working with the local community to develop designs that will re-imagine Hurlford Village Centre.
"We’re excited for this next step in the project, and for the local community to start feeling the benefits of more accessible and inviting community space that seeks to connect the past to the present.
"Thanks to DeWaldens Garden Centre in Kilmarnock and Hayes Garden Centre in Symington for providing the benches and to Hurlford Primary School for planting and adopting the planters.
"We’d encourage local people to feedback on the parklet, to ensure it meets the needs and aspirations of the community while the wider Street Design Project develops further.”
The parklet is a new conceptCouncillor Jim Roberts, Cabinet Member for Economy and Infrastructure said:
“Community regeneration, Placemaking and Community Wealth Building are all high priorities for East Ayrshire Council.
"Working with all sectors of the community, everyone can have a say in the future of the places where we live and work.
"This parklet is a new concept that makes better and greener use of a space that will benefit people of all ages at a time when having good outdoor areas to meet in and enjoy is a big help in coping with the constraints we’ve all lived with in the last year.
“People and businesses have worked in partnership with ourselves and Sustrans, and it’s very much a taster of things to come. It will evolve and allow people a chance to see what’s possible.
“This project is a testament to the community of Hurlford who’ve engaged so enthusiastically with the chance to make their spaces more user friendly.”
After: elements have been added including benches, planters, cycle parking, surface markings and historical images
Locals are encouraged to feedback on the parklet by emailing Eilidh.Russell@sustrans.org.ukProject Handover to East Ayrshire Council
Since the Hurlford Street Design Project launched in September 2019, we have received hundreds of comments and suggestions from residents, young people, businesses and community groups through the project website and multiple activities held locally.
Using the information collected, initial designs went on display between March and April 2020 for the community to feedback on. Using the feedback received during this period, we refined the initial designs into a Concept Design that represents the communities aspirations for the street environment in the village centre.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we were not be able to showcase the concept design to the wider community during the Display Stage of the process but have presented the designs on the project website: https://hurlfordproposals.commonplace.is/schemes/proposals/concept-design-september-2020/details .
Handover to East Ayrshire CouncilThe concept design developed since September 2019 was handed over to East Ayrshire Council in September 2020 for further development and engagement with the community through funding from Sustrans Places for Everyone Programme which provides 100% design funding.
Ayrshire Roads Alliance and East Ayrshire Council will be seeking to appoint a consultant to continue the design work and community engagement soon. Sign up to this news page to receive updates as the project progresses.
Pop-up Parklet coming soonEarlier this year, East Ayrshire Council allocated Town Centre Regeneration funding from the Scottish Government to deliver some exciting changes to Hurlford following ideas generated by the community through the Hurlford Street Design Project.
In March, some of this funding was used to re-surface the area of land behind the bus stop where Academy Street meets Mauchline Road.
We are now looking to trial a Pop-up Parklet at this location consisting of colourful benches, planters and cycle parking to create much needed public space in the village centre for the community to enjoy outdoors. If successful, the parklet could remain in place until the Hurlford Street Design Project is delivered or it could be adapted or removed depending on feedback from the community.
In addition, we will also be repairing the plaque for the propeller and delivering a community noticeboard, dog waste bag dispensers and historical images of Hurlford in some of the bus shelters.
We are aiming to install the Pop-up Parklet and other items in late Autumn 2020 however this is subject to government guidelines and any local restrictions that might be in place. We will update you as soon as we have a date!
Thank youWe would like to thank you all for your work and support during the concept design stage. It’s been a pleasure to work closely with the community over the past year and, although we had the disappointment of cancelling many of the planned activities during Spring/Summer, we are excited to see the project develop by East Ayrshire Council.
Finally, we would like to wish everyone well during these uncertain times.
May Activities
The project team hopes everyone is well and would like to share a few activities that you can take part in from your home over the next couple of weeks.
Sustrans Outside In
Sustrans School Officers across the country have been working hard the last few weeks, developing a four-week activity pack for all the family.
This comes in the form of a weekly newsletter with walking, cycling and scooting themed activities and challenges for you to try in your home.
Find out more and sign up here .
National Walking month
May is National Walking Month. Whether you are able to get out for a short daily walk, or a walk around your home or garden; you could team it up with Paths For All’s ‘Mind to Walk with Edith Bowman’ podcast. It is designed to give you the greatest benefit from your walk; calming your thoughts and allowing a connection with your surroundings.
Living Streets have shared their tops tips for helping fit in twenty minutes of walking into your day.
Active Travel Hub, Kilmarnock
The Active Travel Hub have been posting lots of ideas to keep you active during lock down. You can view these on their Facebook and Twitter pages.
Match the Miles
Match the Miles is a virtual challenge organised by Lee and Jenny, the directors of the Adventure Syndicate . Usually at this time of year they would be taking part in The Highland Trail 550 race. Due to current circumstances, they will be recording any amount of time exercising on a phone app.
They would like you to join them and record your time spent exercising on the app. You’ll be allocated a dot on the app that will move when you move!
There are only a couple of days left of the challenge – but there is still time to take part! Find out more and sign up here.
Street trials
Street Kit
As part of the Design Stage of the project, the Sustrans Street Kit was going to be temporarily placed on the School Zone zig-zags on Academy Street and Union Street. This was to emphasise the existing parking restrictions at the school gates. Images of what the Street Kit looks like in action can be seen below!
Unfortunately the trial is not able to go ahead, due to current circumstances. As the idea of physically restricting parking in these areas is reflected in the design proposals , this allows you to see what the purpose of the proposed trial was.
You can feedback on the designs until 10th April.
The idea was developed as the team received many comments from pupils, parents, school staff and other members of the community about the dominance of cars on the school streets during school drop-off and pick-up times.
The team are currently looking into the potential of organising the street trial later in 2020.
Park and Stride
A Park & Stride campaign was planned for the same time as the Street Kit trial, this has been postponed to later in the year. The team are aware that many people are already adopting a travel method that has them parking away from the school gates and walking or scooting the rest of the way. The campaign would aim to increase the number of people doing so and help cut down the number of cars outside the school gates and make more use of the Academy Street car park, as this is currently not being used to its full capacity. A Park & Stride would create a safer, cleaner and more pleasant environment around a school.
A sign is being designed by school pupils to promote the Park & Stride. The team are hopeful that this will be put in place once the schools go back.
Creative activities to keep your families entertained during this time
We had to cancel many of our engagement activities and community activities have been cancelled so read below for some fun activities you can do with your family:
· Playing Out are keeping their website updated regularly with ideas and blogs to read
· The Active Travel Hub, Kilmarnock are sharing tips on their Facebook page on how to stay occupied whilst social distancing
· The Scouts have some brilliant ideas for activities to try out over the next few months
· If you have access to a garden, build a daily mile into your routine or set up a simple obstacle course!
Hurlford Primary School Engagement March 2020
We have been working with the pupils of Hurlford Primary School over the last month to gain feedback on the initial designs for Hurlford, encourage pupils to walk, cycle or scoot to school more often as well as working with the JRSO’s to think about how to reduce parking outside the school trough a park and Stride.
Meeting with the JRSOs
We met with 10 Junior Road safety Officers on 5th March. We took the pupils out on the street to create a 5 and 10 minute walking zone for part of a park and stride campaign to show how far you can walk in 5 and 10 minutes from the school. The pupils were amazed at how little time it took to walk up to the community centre showing that it should be possible to walk/cycle or scoot to school easily. Back in the classroom we discussed the benefits of a Park and Stride and how the JRSOs could help make this happen at their school.
Talking circles
The following week we came back to Hurlford Primary School to attend their ‘talking circles’ session on Thursday 12th March. We showed pupils how they had helped develop the initial designs along with others in their community as well as showing them the initial designs. The feedback from the pupils was positive especially in regards to lots of colour on Academy Street and Union Street. The JRSOs told the other pupils what they had been involved in throughout the project so far. After this pupils were split into their circles and the JRSOs launched the Park and Stride campaign. Each pupil started creating a poster to promote Park and Stride for the school. A selection of the posters will be made into a temporary sign to encourage parents and guardians to park in the designated car park to reduce traffic outside the school and get more pupils walking, cycling or scooting to school.
Design Workshop
We took a group of pupil council officers and Junior Road Safety officers out on a design walk to the 4 different locations in Hurlford which we have initial designs for. When in location we discussed how the area looked currently and compared this to an image of the design for that location. The pupils were great at noticing the changes in the design and gained an understanding of how Urban Designers think. Overall the pupils were interested in the designs and were happy to see some of their ideas had been taken on board. They also had some great ideas of how to use areas in the design. The pupil’s feedback will be considered when finalising the designs.
Your chance to win £100!
All you need to do is view and feedback online to enter our prize draw to win £100. T’s and Cs online.
Explore the Design events cancelled but please feedback by Friday 10 April
In light of recent events, we have made the decision to cancel all upcoming events for the Explore the Designs stage of the Hurlford Street Design Project. All households in Hurlford and Crookedholm will receive an update by post about this over the next few days.
We would encourage you to view and feedback on the initial designs online: hurlfordproposals.commonplace.is/ . The designs are also available to view on Academy Street, Unions Street, Blair Road and Mauchline Road and in Hurlford Church, Primary School and Community Centre. Should these venues close over the coming weeks, we would encourage those with a connection to the internet to feedback online.
Anyone who is unable to share their views online is welcome to phone/text Eilidh Russell on 07773 252 695 , who will arrange for you to feedback by post.
Due to the circumstances we have extended the deadline for feeding back on the initial designs to Friday 10 April . Please keep checking the project news for further updates: hurlfordproposals.commonplace.is/news .
Finally, the project team would like to wish everyone good health and we hope to see you very soon.
Events coming up
Hurlford Residents check your post!
Look out for our March Newsletter in the post where you can read about what we have been up to over the last few months and what is happening in March.
Exploring the Designs: 9th March – 30th MarchEvents & activities
Throughout March, we are inviting you to many different events and activities where you can view the initial designs for Hurlford Village Centre and feedback on them. The newsletter you will have received has all the information for what’s on or check out the image below.
Take part online or complete a survey
From Monday 9th to 30th March 2020, you can also feedback the initial designs online at www.hurlfordproposals.commonplace.is or by filling out a survey in any of the following locations:
We look forward to seeing you in March and hearing your feedback on the initial designs that you have helped us develop.
Discovering the Urban Environment
In addition to all the comments from the community, the team also carried out a Public Life Study (PLS). This is another way of gaining an understanding of what is happening in a place and a method to identify potential changes that could benefit an area. During a PLS, the number of people within the chosen area are observed – movement patterns are traced and stationary activity is also recorded.
At four different time slots: 8.30am; 12pm; 3pm and 5pm, the team carried out studies on the locations you can see below:
These studies help the team to learn about the volume and demographic of people moving through and using the facilities in the village and how people are spending time in Hurlford.
To see a summary of the observations, please have a look here .
The team also want to learn about the vehicle movements within Hurlford. Therefore, in November a Traffic Speed and Volume survey and a Parking & Loading survey were carried out. The team are currently analysing the results of these.
What’s coming next?
There will be plenty of opportunities for the community to feed into the project over the coming months.
If you have any events going on that you would like us to attend or a community group that we could run an activity with, please contact Eilidh Russell: eilidh.russell@sustrans.org.uk
The Active Travel Hub
Kilmarnock’s Active travel Hub have a range of Winter Walks organised and an 8 week cycling training course running. For more information, please contact Cat Wright: cat.wright@sustrans.org.uk
Scottish Workplace Journey Challenge
Fancy setting yourself a challenge for March? This is a great way to get active on your commute to work and win some great prizes! You can register here , or get in touch for more information.
Creating a Design
With the key themes in mind (see last week’s post for more details!), the team can get a better understanding of what is most important to the local community and what should be considered when developing a design for the area. A plan called the Design Framework is created to ensure that as many of the themes identified will be addressed. The framework will focus on what the re-design of the streets need to achieve to be in line with what the community would like to see.
The framework is currently being developed , in the Develop Stage of the project and will be presented back during the Design Stage in Spring.
Below is an overview of the key themes identified and a snapshot of the comments from the community that helped to shape them.
Improving public realm –People would like to see the village centre be a nicer place to meet friends and have more opportunities to socialise.
Creating a slower, safer environmen t – Many people mentioned that there is a dominance from motor vehicles within the village and the perception of high speeds from them. This is especially apparat along Academy Street, the service road and Mauchline Road.
Improving Local Journeys – All age groups identified barriers to local journeys made by walking and wheeling. These included lack of road crossing points, pavement width and condition.
Strengthening Community Identity & Activity - Many people would like to see more of a sense of community in Hurlford, with more places to meet and activities taking place in the village. There is also a rich sense of history and heritage in the village, which could be made more visible for all generations to enjoy.
Better Use of Road Space – There were a lot of comments about parking – particularly around people ignoring restrictions and the car park not having a welcoming appearance. Accessing shops and facilities can be difficult due to parking and loading, especially during school drop-off and pick-up times.
Some examples of comments from our surveys and events:
You can read more about the Design Framework and see more comments here.
The team would like to thank everyone who has submitted comments and feedback so far.
What’s coming next?
There will be plenty of opportunities for the community to feed into the project over the coming months.
If you have any events going on that you would like us to attend or a community group that we could run an activity with, please contact Eilidh Russell: eilidh.russell@sustrans.org.uk
Looking to improve your cycling skills and confidence?
The Active Travel Hub Kilmarnock will be running an 8 week long training course, starting on Tuesday 14th April 5.30-7pm.
Our Behaviour Change Officer, Cat, is looking for people to keep a Journey Journal for a fortnight. By travelling more actively, this can help you to get healthier, save money and reduce your carbon emissions. You’ll receive a free pedometer to track your step count!
If your New Year’s resolution is to be more active, please get in touch to find out more about both these activities: cat.wright@sustrans.org.uk
Happy new year!
We hope you have had a lovely festive period and a happy new year.
For those of you who didn’t make it along to our Develop Event in December,, you can view a copy of the information here .
Identifying Key Themes
We have analysed all your comments from our events, activities, surveys and meetings throughout the Discover Stage with different community groups, residents and businesses. The word cloud below indicates the general themes that were highlighted by you, with the most popular appearing the largest.
The six most mentioned themes were Community, Public Realm, Parking, Vehicle Speed and Activities. These, alongside other main themes, will help shape the re-design of Hurlford Village Centre.
Whats coming next?
We are currently planning more engagement activities with key community groups between now and May. If you have any events planned that you would like us to attend or a community group that you would like us to do an activity with, please contact Eilidh Russell on eilidh.russell@sustrans.org.uk
Looking to improve your cycling skills and confidence? The Active Travel Hub Kilmarnock will be running an 8 week long training course, starting on Tuesday 14th April 5.30-7pm .
Our Behaviour Change Officer, Cat, is looking for people to keep a Journey Journal for a fortnight. By travelling more actively, this can help you to get healthier, save money and reduce your carbon emissions. You’ll receive a free pedometer to track your step count!
If your New Year’s resolution is to be more active, please get in touch with Cat Wright to find out more about both these activities: cat.wright@sustrans.org.uk .
Wet & Windy Develop Event Held in Hurlford
During the afternoon of Thursday 5 December, the community braved the rain and wind by dropping-by the bus stop on Mauchline Road to get an update on how the project is developing.
The Kilmarnock Active Travel Hub were on hand to bling scooters and bikes!
Drop-in eventLater on in the evening, we held a successful drop-in event with brave local residents and business owners who battled through the atrocious weather conditions to join us at the Thistle Bar.
We had several activities for local people to get involved with including our Live Drawings where the community could see their ideas sketched by our Urban designers. Lovely Wreaths were also created which will be put up in Hurlford Village Centre before Christmas!
Thanks to everyone who popped along on the day.
Read our event materialIf you didn’t get a chance to read the information on display, you can view the event boards .
What's next?We will now start to develop your design ideas further with East Ayrshire Council and the project Steering Group at the start of next year before presenting these to the community during our Explore the Design event in March 2020 . During the design stage, we will be organising activities with the public and local organisations to ensure as many people as possible are able to comment on and refine the designs.
Everyone is welcome to attend and more details will be published here soon. Please sign up to the website for future news or email our Community Engagement Officer Eilidh for more information.
Hurlford engagements in the sun
On Wednesday 30th October our Community Engagement Officer and Behaviour Change Officer were out and about in Hurlford in the autumn sunshine.
They started the day off with chatting to parents and guardians during school drop-off. Thank you to all who took the time to fill in the surveys and to those who took it away to do.
The afternoon was spent catching up with businesses in the area, finding out their opinions on the Street Design project.
Then it was back to the school and nursery for pick up - this time equipped with Halloween sweets for the kids!
Overall, it was a successful day and has helped us gather lots more of your views and ideas.
Don't worry if you have not filled in the survey yet, you have until Friday 8th November.
Please click here to complete the survey online.
The paper surveys can be found and posted in to our ballot boxes at:
Please sign up to the website for future news or email our Community Engagement Officer Eilidh for more information.
Commonplace Survey has been extended for your comments until Friday 8th November
Commonplace Survey has been extended for your comments until Friday 8th November
Thanks for all your comments so far. It’s not too late you can still submit your ideas and suggestions on Commonplace or fill in a paper survey. We would love to hear from you to ensure we develop designs with the whole community.
After filling in the survey you will have the chance to win a £50 shopping voucher by entering our prize draw.
Please click here to complete the survey online.
The paper surveys can be found and posted in to our ballot boxes at:
The closing date for sharing your comments online or on paper has been extended until the Friday 8th November
Please sign up to the website for future news or email our Community Engagement Officer Eilidh for more information.
Over 100 people drop by our pop up park!
Thank you to everyone who attended the project launch event on Wednesday 2 October.
Pop up parkOver 100 people dropped by our pop up park on the corner of Mauchline Road and Academy Street to enjoy the sunshine, meet the project team and discuss how to re-imagine Hurlford Village Centre. Some even took part in playing games on the grass! Thanks also to the Kilmarnock Travel Hub staff and volunteers who serviced 9 bikes and provided information on local travel events and opportunities.
All the comments and ideas were recorded on maps, surveys and our place board...
Read our event materialIf you didn’t get a chance to read the information on display, you can view the event boards and our inspirational examples from previous projects.
You can still submit your ideas and suggestions on the online map or fill in a paper survey at Hurlford Community Centre or Hurlford Church. Closing date is Friday 18 October.
What's next?We will be visiting community organisations and Hurlford Primary School throughout October to ensure we reach a wide range of people within the community.
Our next public event will be in early December where we will use a model of the street to develop the ideas and opportunities you have identified. Everyone is welcome to attend and more details will be published here soon. Please sign up to the website for future news or email our Community Engagement Officer Eilidh for more information.
Street Observations in Hurlford
On Wednesday 25 September, the Project Delivery Team carried out Public Life Studies within the village centre. to better understand the current street environment.
Public life is the social activity that takes place in everyday public spaces - on streets, in parks and in spaces between buildings. Using the Gehl Institute method, we measure certain aspects of public life (movement, people and activity) to get a better understand of what’s already happening in a place and what changes might benefit an area.
The team will now analysis the information collected and present this to the community during the Develop stage of the project.
Project launch event on Wednesday 2 October 2019
Sustrans Scotland has partnered with East Ayrshire Council on the Hurlford Street Design Project to develop a concept design by June 2020 which aims to: celebrate local history and heritage; provide access for all; address vehicle dominance and speeds; and enhance public space.
Join us on Wednesday 2nd October to share your knowledge of the area, find out more and meet the project team. Bring your bikes for a free check-up or enjoy some refreshments!
We would love to hear from you to ensure we develop designs with the whole community.
When
Drop by anytime between 3pm and 7pm on Wednesday 2nd October.
Where
Pop up park at the corner of Academy Street and Mauchline Road, behind the bus stop.
Take part online or paperFrom Wednesday 2 October until Friday 18 October, you can also add your ideas on the project website: https://hurlford.commonplace.is/ or complete a paper survey from the following locations:
Drop Eilidh Russell our Community Engagement Officer an email for more information or keep checking this blog for future events!
