Agenda and minutes

(Copy attached.)

The Minute of Meeting of the Chambers Institution Trust of  31 August 2015 had been circulated.

DECISION

APPROVED.

With reference to paragraph 5 of the Minute of Meeting held on 31 August 2015, Councillor Logan proposed that in the absence of the Chairman at any future meeting, Members appoint a Vice-Chairman at that time. 

DECISION

AGREED that in the absence of the Chairman at any future meeting, Members appoint a Vice-Chairman at that time.

MEMBER

Councillor Garvie joined the meeting.

3.1    Una Richards, Director, Scottish Historic Buildings Trust advised that the consultation process in respect of the Chambers Institution, Peebles had been concluded.   A paper had been previously circulated advising that 208 questionnaire responses had been submitted, a further 173 additional people attended the stakeholder workshops, giving an overall total of 381 people involved in the consultation.   An analysis of the questionnaire indicated that:-

         (a)          the building was highly valuedby the local Community and there was strong support for it to remain a building for Community use and one where the Community came  first.

         (b)          the majority of respondents also identified that there was a need for changeat the building including upgrading of access, facilities and services, more investment in maintenance and for innovation and revitalisation of some of the existing services housed in the building. There was general acknowledgement that this would require a re-ordering of the layout of the building, especially to improve access to those parts of the building most used by the Community, although opinions varied as to the scale of the re-ordering exercise needed.

          (c)          Peebles Librarywas the most regularly visited space in the Chambers Institution, and was identified as the anchor use within the building. The other spaces most regularly used by the community were the Burgh Hall, the Tweeddale Museum and Art Gallery and the courtyard. The inclusion of a variety of uses within the building was viewed as positive, helping to increase vibrancy of the building.

          (d)          of all the important spaces in the building, the Burgh Hallwas identified as the one most clearly underperforming currently and consequently the one with most scope for increasing its relevance to the community and intensifying its usage. A wide range of preferences for use of this space and a variety of proposals for increasing floor area through the introduction of another floor or gallery at high level were expressed.

          (e)          some challengeswere identified by the Community. A more user-friendly booking facility for the Burgh Hall was suggested, plus it was noted that the uncertainty over who was responsible for management and decision-making – the Chambers Institution Trust, Scottish Borders Council or the new Sport and Culture Trust – was unhelpful in terms of retaining and building ongoing Community support for the building.

3.2     An analysis of the stakeholder workshop responses were as follows:-

          (a)          there was general support for the library to have ground floor space, as a means both to improve access to this service and to provide a welcoming entrance to the building and gateway to other uses housed there.

          (b)          more flexibleaccommodation in the building was desired, in particular in relation to removing the fixed staging in the Burgh Hall and providing more smaller meeting or breakout spaces.

          (c)          there was a strong desire to promote use of the building by young people and for education.

          (d)          there was an appetite for closer collaborationbetween the uses in the building e.g. the Tweeddale  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The next meeting would be held on Wednesday 25 May 2016 at 4.15 p.m.

DECISION

AGREED that the next meeting would be held on Wednesday 25 May 2016 at 4.15 p.m.