[Closed] The demise of a vision for a community

In the forthcoming week or so local Tweed Valley folk will read an article from the local public agencies that spells the end for an exciting project. The community group’s aim, backed by huge public support, was to regenerate the economies of Traquair, Innerleithen and Walkerburn by building a world-class, multi-user, all ability uplift that would provide employment, income and continued trail development of the area.

You will read things like a disbelief in visitor numbers, how Glentress is thriving and how the mountain bike trails are still a world class venue. When I speak with local accommodation owners seemingly occupancy rates are nowhere near full; the numbers of people I see riding at Glentress and cars in the car park is substantially lower then when I moved here three years ago; the numbers of people I see riding ‘other’ trails up and down the Tweed Valley away from the trail centres has boomed; the ‘Tweed Valley’, and the 7Stanes trail centres featuring in mainstream media polls about where is best to ride in the UK has noticeably dropped and big name event organisers are not returning to the Valley.

The answer apparently is in building more accommodation, another car park and another café at Glentress. If you read the fine detail there is scant mention of anything to do with trail building or maintenance. The Forward Action Plan you will read of talks about investing in trails – what this is missing is the ‘how’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘what’ and where the moneys is coming from, it’s not committed money. So we end up with more corporate accommodation threating the livelihoods of the community we wanted to help regenerate and seemingly no definite trail improvement plan. The amount of ‘underground’ trail building will continue as there continues to be no consideration for the development of the sport and those that have outgrown the now-battered trail centres of the Tweed Valley.

I speak out now as, over two and a bit years, I have been ground down by the utter lack of vision, inspiration and action from those in a position to help make this vision a reality. Obviously places like Bike Park Wales are not a good enough example of ‘if you build it, they will come’. We have constantly been outwitted (played) and a different spin put on the work, it is your taxpayer money that has funded all the ‘research’ that has been conducted. I have invested time, and my own money to help pay bills, to this vision and now is the time to say enough is enough and let the community I represented (as a previous Director on the Board) know the reality.

[i]This is solely my comment and is not the view of AimUp Ltd or any other organisation I work for / represent. I submitted my resignation to the chairman last week as I felt I could not agree to the proposals AimUp Ltd have been asked to support. For those that know me, I am not afraid of standing up for what I believe in.[/i]