Aviemore community wants more affordeable housing, village hall and public swimming
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The lack of a village hall, access to public swimming and affordable housing were amongst the main talking points in the Big Conversation for Aviemore.
The two-day event was held to come up with community priorities to make the village along with Rothiemurchus and Glenmore better places to live, work and visit.
So far there have been over 600 responses by local residents to the Community Action Plan saying what they want to see developed up to 2030.
It is part of a bigger conversation that takes place in every community across the strath every five years and led locally by Voluntary Action Badenoch and Strathspey.
Karen Derrick, VABS chief officer, told the Strathy at Saturday’s public consultation at Aviemore Community Centre that a combination of village and national park issues had been raised.
She said: “There are the usual issues such as the intractable problems around housing, transport, child care and digital connections but also people wanting to focus more on the environment which is coming through really strongly since Covid including people wanting their own allotments.”
The hot Aviemore issues included the continuing lack of a village hall since the previous facility was demolished more than a decade ago and local access to public swimming.
Ms Derrick said: “People want to come together and socialise and in almost every other local village and town in the strath there is a commonplace where they can do this.
“Aviemore does not have that particular place that is close to people’s heart.
“The swimming pool was another major subject which came through in spades.
“People are very unhappy about the fact there is no local facility. People in the older age groups want to do aqua aerobics and other exercise to keep them healthy both physically and mentally and water is a great way to do this...
“People are pointing out that there are pools – in the plural – in Aviemore but members of the community can not access them.”
There has been no public swimming in Aviemore since the start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020.
A previous agreement between Highland Council and Macdonald Hotels and Resorts for subsidised access to the pool at the Aviemore Resort as part of High Life Highland has never been renewed.
Organisers are particularly pleased about the high level of responses to the Community Action Plan survey available online and posted through letterboxes in and around Aviemore.
Ms Derrick said they represented 20 per cent of the local population and provided a real ‘mandate’ to get things done.
Aviemore Community Council chairman Al Dargie said that a much better village green and the Aviemore community park were priorities which had been achieved from the last Big Conversation and is hoping for more successes.
But he admitted some were harder to get done than others.
He said: “There are always going to be areas where the community’s desires are hard to achieve such as the village hall was high on the agenda last time and we have not made great in-roads into that.
“However, Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust have got some proof of concept designs for the community space next to the cadet hall (on Dalfaber Drive).
“Work is also needed on exploring how we can better use existing facilities for the community including times of access such as at this building we are sat in.
“At the end of the day this wing has been funded by the community.”
Mr Dargie continued: “The highest demand after affordable housing was access to swimming and I think that we need to look at a strategic approach as to how this is achieved.
“Obviously there has been historic usage of the facilities at the Aviemore Resort but that arrangement is in abeyance.
“Is it sustainable to revisit this model or should Aviemore as the most vibrant community and with the largest population locally have a community or public sector operated facility?
“On a Friday afternoon you can see 20 to 30 families travelling from Aviemore through to Grantown for swimming lessons. And if you are at the southern end of the strath then access to High Life Highland swimming lessons is even more difficult. It makes sense for Aviemore to be a hub.”
On housing, Mr Dargie pointed to An Camas Mor as the strategic answer.
He said: “Aviemore has a build rate of 50 to 60 houses per year so looking at five years is not taking a strategic approach in any way, shape or form. We have to have a longer term vision to tackle the number one problem.”
The need for a permanent home for Aviemore’s ice rink was also high on the list of priorities.
The Community Action Plan report is due for publication in early May and will be available for further comment before being adopted and submitted to public agencies such as the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Highland Council to feed into their blueprints up to 2030.
