An ambitious action plan for the Glenkens will be made by the people, for the people, a local community leader has vowed.
Fiona Smith made the pledge following an event to decide how best to develop the five-year regeneration programme.
The Glenkens and District Trust chairperson was among round 100 people attending the Inaugural Glenkens Summit.
Mrs Smith told the News: “The ideas generated will feed into the on-going development of the community action plan.
“This will include identifying how projects can be created and delivered and what capabilities and organisations are needed to enable this.
“Underpinning this is the need to agree how the wider community wants to oversee, monitor and evolve the plan.
“We want this to be a plan created by the community for the community.”
The summit, organised by the trust with the support of Community Enterprise, was the first of what is hoped will be an annual initiative.
It focused on four key themes – a connected community, an asset rich community, an economically flourishing community and a carbon neutral community.
Organisers were delighted that 102 people attended to hear main speakers Ailsa Clarke of Argyll social enterprise Inspiralba, Centre for Local Economic Strategies CEO Neil McInroy and Phillip Revell, the chairman of Scottish Communities Climate Action Network.
Event convener Jane Morrison-Ross, the new chief executive of South of Scotland Enterprise, said the summit was “absolutely brilliant”.
She added: “The innovation, ambition and passion shone through.
“The speakers were fantastic and the plans are really exciting.”
The five-year Glenkens action plan envisages a new future for the area.
Essential building blocks are being seen as a dynamic low carbon economy and vibrant communities.
The Glenkens has suffered from decades of out-migration of its young people.
Carsphairn Primary School has aready been mothballed and school rolls are fragile elsewhere in the district.
