Jedburgh Place Making Workshop

“A sense of place and time”

Jedburgh is the Historic gateway to the Borders. And Scotland. Our rich heritage makes it unique, with Mary Queen of Scots, the Abbey, the Castle Jail. And Jedhart Pears. We have a sense of place and time.

We are an active, vibrant and committed community. Our people are passionate and take pride in being part of Jedburgh. People are warm. Welcoming, and supportive of each other. It’s a friendly town, a great place for families.

We value the situation of the town, the natural environment, the river, the hills and lots of green space in the town. And, Jedburgh has the amenities that people need. And we value our independent high street with lots of coffee shops. People here are aware of where their food comes from with local green grocers, bakers and butchers. This, and good road transport make Jedburgh a destination town, a stopping point for day time tourism.

“Our community is stagnant”

We see the out migration of young people. We lack access to opportunities, further education and night classes. And jobs with reasonable pay. The new campus is isolated, and there is a gap in service provision for some community groups, including young people. Families are affected by poverty. Housing is expensive. There are too many vacant properties, and absentee land lords.

We feel we have to fight for everything, that other Border towns have had more investment. Many activities in Jedburgh are reliant on volunteers. And, our community organisations are at capacity. We need “ownership” of spaces and more representation of young people in decision making, and more placesto meet for community activity, intergenerational mixing and cohesion. But, we also need more communication, to know what is happening, and what we can do.

Facilities aren’t adequate, accessible or affordable. The Medical practice is under pressure. Appointments are not always available. We want face to face meetings in our health centres.

We feel the town centre is dilapidated. Assets are not maximised. The library closed. Development of the old school is delayed. Flooding of the ‘Jed’ is a concern, as are the state of the roads and pavements which makes it difficult to navigate with wheelchairs or buggies. Public transport isn’t reliable. There isn’t much of an active travel network, and there are a lack of shopping options.

We need to balance our domestic, agricultural, environmental and tourist needs. It is difficult to walk dogs beside agricultural land. We need gentle walking routes as well as trails. But, we also need more hospitality venues, places for tourists in the town.

Jedburgh is easy to bypass! We seem to lack opportunities for creativity. There are virtually zero facilities for culture, creativity or the arts. We need a cultural hub, and investment in legacy businesses and tourist attractions.

“We need to collaborate to get more people to stop and stay”

“ A sense of purpose, built on trust, and community ownership”

We want to create a confident, supportive community network, involving all members of the community, where people have more responsibility and sense of purpose, built on trust, and community ownership. We want a range of voices represented, using groups already out there, connecting with young people. And empowering our community.

“Let’s build on the value our natural assets”

Success the, is about maximising our assets, and utilising our heritage buildings in a sustainable way. We can be both economic, and green, and use this to create a vibrant high street, a place with a ‘buzz’, shopfronts regenerated, and shops filled, with more footfall and returning visitors. And more businesses attracted to the town.

Let’s improve the river banks, and make more of river activities and renewables. We have fantastic opportunities for a net zero town. Develop sustainable green transport, and any time, anywhere connectivity, physical and digital. Create more paths for horses and bikes, and more recreation options for young people, led by young people, building ion the success of the skatepark. And, let’s develop more recreation in the Old Jed forest, making more of walking paths and old connections. Create more allotments. Support community food growing with more orchards, and a circular economy where the food we grow is served in the cafes we have in the town. We want to be the food capital of the Borders.

“A vibrant high street “buzz”

The success and sustainability of existing and new businesses are the reasons we want people to come here, live, here, stay here. Our future has a mix of jobs with fair work at the heart of all opportunities, and more decent and affordable housing for local people. Our town centre is a hub, with great places to meet. It is inclusive, vibrant, supportive, a place of advice and learning.

Let’s build on our ambition and collaborate to create more activities and events that encourage people to visit the town, and stay in the town. Entice people to stop with creative place making. Sort out the entry to the town. Develop evening night life. Provide varied and characterful accommodation. And make the most of the rugby club, a vital part of Jed. But, lets also build. Let’s build Jedburgh as a cultural hub, a place for artists to work and engage with community, a destination of choice and culture.

What skills do we need?

We need to develop our engagement skills. We want our plans and visioning to be welcoming to youth, parents, older people. We also want our groups to be relatable and interest will grow interest. We need to have more family days – not always a meeting, and not be too bureaucratic. We want to be inclusive, to show progress and see action.

So, we need to align priorities, bring things together, and Create a joined up plan so we’re all working on the same thing. This needs good communication, so we can build a shared vision that everyone can get behind.

Let’s build great Town Team collaboration with a tracked plan, and make the best of groups already out there to create better opportunities together. Let’s create spaces and opportunities Space to come together, space to share.

“an understanding of what others can bring to the table”

Further information on  Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal