Over the last two years, Alloa First and CTSI have been working closely with Clackmannanshire Council on the Living Alloa project which aims to help regenerate Alloa town centre to help local people, visitors and the new older residents who will be moving into the Kingdom Housing Association Primrose Street housing development.
The regeneration work aims to make the town centre safer, easier to walk around and socialise in and includes the improvement of the passageway through by the TSB bank, crossing at King Street, linkage through to Forth Valley College and improve the socialising area just off Bank Street. It also includes the redevelopment of the former toilets at Maple Court to be a new Alloa Hub.
The Alloa Hub will be a first for Clackmannanshire as it will be operated by a newly-established Community Benefit Society (or Ben-com) which local residents and businesses can own shares in. Ben-coms are now prevalent around Scotland and allow local people to own their community assets and run them to help improve their local communities. There are examples of community shops, distilleries, railway lines and wind farms all using this model.
For Alloa and Clackmannanshire the new Alloa Hub will offer a range of services including an active travel hub and bike workshop, a flexible space for hiring out to local groups, local tourist information point as well as a shop selling locally-made goods. It will also display the new five-panel Clackmannanshire Tapestries designed by Andrew Crummy, who is the designer behind the Great Tapestry of Scotland and are currently being stitched by volunteers around Clackmannanshire (for more details go to Clackmannanshire Tapestries here). The venue will hopefully have bike and walking groups running from it for tourists and help drive the recovery and economic development of the area. The venue will also include a large changing places, disabled toilet and shower for bikers.
Work will start on the building in summer 2021 and the share option will be open to anyone from late September onwards. The shares will cost just £20 each and by purchasing a share local people can have a direct involvement in helping with the running costs of the Hub and a say in how it will operate in the future. Shareholders will also hopefully receive interest in the future on their investment. The Council will not be involved after the building development and so your help and small investment by purchasing shares will be crucial. It will be owned by local people for local people!
For more information, please go to www.alloafirst.co.uk for more information and how you can get involved and be part of this new and exciting economic revival development for Clackmannanshire.
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