Kirkton Community Hub

Plans to create a Community Hub to improve access to services in Kirkton for local people are set to be considered by the City Governance committee.

Transfer from the current Kirkton Community Centre and Library to the nearby Baldragon and St Paul’s academies by October 2024 could begin on a phased basis from next month (November), if a report is approved.

Councillors will hear that the change of location to the high-quality school buildings in the local area would enhance the delivery of services and better meet the needs of the community.

As well as a library and swimming, people would be able to take advantage of facilities like a dance studio, fitness suite and home economics kitchens.

City Governance convener Councillor John Alexander said: “Kirkton contains superb modern amenities across these two secondary schools and the creation of a Community Hub would improve access to services and activities for local people.

 “The hub represents a new way of thinking about school buildings as a centre of community activity.

“This area is already blazing a trail through initiatives like Planet Youth, the Baldragon School of Sport and the development of a sports hub at St Paul’s with Leisure & Culture Dundee and SportScotland.

“The Community Hub would build on these pioneering projects and I am extremely pleased to see the plan reaching this stage, as it is setting up a very exciting future for Kirkton.

“I would also like to stress that involvement of local people has been an important element in developing the proposals so far, and will continue if approval is given to go forward.”

The City Governance Committee will hear that the Hub would combine sports and activities, advice services, libraries, digital inclusion, adult learning and community development, and potentially health-related services.

Facilities that would be available through the hub which are not currently on offer to the public include:

• Baldragon swimming pool
• Recording studio
• Radio station
• Dance Studio
• Fitness suite
• Flexible meeting spaces
• Classrooms
• Technical Workshops
• Home Economics Kitchens 

The community library at St Paul’s would be open from 9am-7pm Monday to Friday and 9am-1pm on Saturdays.

Additional public swimming would be provided at St Paul’s between 6am-8am Monday to Friday, while new public swimming sessions would take place at Baldragon between 9am and 12.30pm on Saturdays.

It is also recommended that the council work with the Kirkton Local Management Group and associated community groups to develop a proposal for Community Asset Transfer of the land on which the current community centre is located.

A report explains that the current Kirkton Community Centre and Library remains in a satisfactory operational condition through on-going repairs and maintenance, which would be continued in the short-term.

But it adds that: “Given the limited remaining lifespan (in the region of 3 years), the significant investment required to overhaul the building to bring the performance to the level of a modern, energy efficient, highly performing facility would be cost prohibitive in comparison to costs for any new build construction.”

The move of services to other modern facilities would also contribute towards the Council’s carbon reduction and transition to net zero.

Officers from across council services along with Leisure & Culture Dundee and community representatives would oversee development of the hub, and would work together with all key stakeholders and relevant partners.

If the report is approved, work would be undertaken with Leisure & Culture Dundee to relocate the library service and agree public access arrangements to St Paul’s Academy library during the school day.

The City Governance Committee meets on Monday October 23.

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