KINALLEN GROUP PLANNING A SECOND COMMUNITY AUDIT
A DECADE after it undertook its landmark community audit, a Kinallen group is planning to return to the now larger resident population to seek views on how to shape the area's future.
At the same time the Kinallen Rural Community Development Association has enlisted council aid in efforts to officially establish whether that growing population lives in the 'village' of Kinallen, or the 'hamlet' of Kinallen.
It was in the year 2000 that the Kinallen Rural Community Development Association heralded the new millennium by questioning locals on their wish-list for the area.
Now, 10 years later, the Association reports that all but one of the goals on that list have been largely achieved and the time has come to establish the vision for the future as seen by today's residents.
The news was among that to emerge from the KRCDA's recent Annual General Meeting, where the lack of an all-weather sports pitch for year-round community use - the one oustanding matter from the last audit - was on the agenda.
"We're trying to undertake a new audit, similar to the one in 2000," said Association secretary Gillian Corbett. "As far as we can tell everything identified by the first audit has been completed, except the pitch.
"The audit was extremely useful and among the things we got out of it were the Rural Watch scheme and a reduction in the speed limit from 40-30mph.
"We feel we need another one because there have been so many new houses in the area; the audit was a very successful exercise and we hope the new one will be equally successful."
The group is looking into funding opportunities to allow them to carry out the planned audit, one area, it believes, in which a definitive decription of Kinallen would help.
"The council is looking into whether we are officially a hamlet or have we reached village status," said Gillian. “Kinallen has grown and there’s no doubt it will continue to grow; if it turned out that Kinallen was a village it would certainly help with funding.”
High on the agenda at the recent AGM was the question of children’s safety en route to and from the comparatively new play area next to Fair Hill Primary School.
The facility was widely welcomed upon completion, but road safety was, and remains, an issue, with youngsters coming from the Kinallen/Hillsborough side of the village having to cross the main Banbridge-Dromara Road.
The Association has so far been frustrated in its efforts to have some sort of pedestrian crossing provided.
“Most of the children have to cross that road and it’s a very busy road,” said Gillian, “but unfortunately we don’t meet the criteria for a push-button pelican crossing.
“They have monitored traffic on the road and have just taken the results away again; the local police are to follow up on the findings and help out whatever way they can.
“We may get some sort of calming measures; anything’s better than nothing and we just hope no-one gets seriously injured before it happens.”
On behalf of the KRCDA, Gillian thanked Banbridge District Council, with whom it had worked very well, she said, for all its help and support.
Office-bearers newly elected at the AGM are Geoffrey Dickson, Chairman; Gillian Corbett, Secretary; Laurence McAillion, Vice-chairman; Tom Corbett, Treasurer and committee-members May Dickson, Ian and Adele Stanford, Margaret Knox, Debbie Parkes, Karen Houston, William Gibbon and Hamilton Tate.
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Weather for Dromore
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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