Question 1

Firstly, we asked ‘what do you like about where you live?’, for example, what’s good about living here, or what should be protected for the future?

These were the key themes that emerged from your answers:

(tap or hover on each to find out what the theme includes)

Excerpts from the written responses:

“I like living in a small community with a small school and nursery. I like going hillwalking and doing other outdoor activities. I enjoy the quiet rural lifestyle.”

“What’s not to like? The scenery is beautiful, quiet and peaceful, long may it continue.”

“The quiet and safe environment that comes with living in Arrochar is what makes it a special place.”

“It’s a beautiful part of the world, with potential to be so much more.”

“I love that I feel safe, that the village has so much green space and is not over built. That there is not too many tourists and the untouched views. The village is not a town or a theme park type of area full of attractions and is a safe place to bring up children!”

Question 2

Secondly, we asked ‘what do you NOT like about where you live?’, for example, what makes it difficult to live or stay here?

These were the key areas of concern:

(tap or hover on each to find out what the theme includes)

Excerpts from the written responses:

“The National Park does not seem to know we are part of it.”

“No future prospects for the younger generation”

“Many things look and feel like the have been under-invested e.g poor parking/expensive, broken signs, destroyed walls, abandoned/derelict buildings, and the old pier.”

“It can feel like local people take second place – visitors and the money they spend are prioritised.”

“Increase of second home ownership. Increase of house prices meaning my children cannot live here. Lack of social housing.”

Issues were shared to a degree across demographics, however there were instances where a particular demographic felt more or less strongly about something:

Respondents from Arrochar (mentioned by 42% of Arrochar residents) generally felt more negatively about community facilities than residents from Tarbet (23% of Tarbet residents).

Negative comments were received from all communities about public transport. However, a higher percentage of residents from Succoth (47% of Succoth residents) mentioned this, in comparison to 33% of residents in Tarbet, and 18% of residents in Arrochar. By far the highest percentage of comments about public transport from within a single age demographic came from those aged 16-29, where the issue was mentioned by 63% of the group.

Lack of things for young people was raised as an issue by 50% of all those aged 15 or under (17 responses).

To encourage the views of young people in the community, surveys were distributed to pupils at Arrochar Primary School, and posters placed on buses transporting secondary school pupils. Among those aged 15 and under, there were favorable views on the landscape and scenery, the community and closeness to friends, and on living in a village as opposed to a city. The under 15s also expressed some negative opinions on the amount of litter, road safely, public transport provision, broken playground equipment, and on a lack of things to do.

Positive and negative excerpts from the childrens’ responses:

“No cycle path! Road is extremely unsafe. All areas of Arrochar, especially to Tarbet, needs a cycle path.”

“I like how it’s a peaceful place and everyone’s friends in the street where I live.”

“It’s hard to get to places. Not much to do.”

To conclude, we asked a two-part question; the first part asked ‘what do you want to happen in your community’s future?’

This is what you told us:

(tap or hover on each to find out what the theme includes)

And finally, we asked ‘what one thing would you prioritise?’

Excerpts from the written responses:

“Affordable housing – My son did not make it onto the housing register even though he works locally and is keen to move into his own home.”

“Become more of a community. More social events.”

“The road. It is dangerous and prevents us and tourists enjoying our village.The sense of community, this has to be protected. Many of the houses are being bought as holiday homes and holiday lets are eroding the community.”

“I would love to see Arrochar more like it was 30-40 years ago when it had a more community feel, like sports days and Christmas parties for the children. More of a family feeling to the village.”

Again, most desires and aspirations were shared across demographics, however there were instances where a particular demographic felt more or less strongly about something they wanted to see in the community’s future:

Better community facilities, activities and opportunities were identified as an aspiration by all villages. However, most so by Arrochar, where 65% of the residents mentioned this. In Succoth, 53% of residents mentioned this, and 30% in Tarbet.

All villages expressed some desire for more affordable housing, but again this was expressed most strongly in Arrochar, where 29% of residents mentioned it (compared to 12% and 14% in Tarbet and Succoth respectively).

44% of all those aged 15 and under who responded (15 responses) expressed an aspiration that there might be more things for young people to do. Many adults expressed the same aspiration: 15% of those aged over 16 or over who responded (44 people).

We also asked respondents to consider how they would rate each of the following categories out of 5 today, which 1 being ‘poor’, and 5 being ‘excellent’.

The average responses received in each category are plotted on the chart below as pink dots.

We also asked respondents how they felt these categories had changed in the last 10 years. The average response accompanies each dot.

Responses indicate that in no categories did respondents believe things had improved in the last decade.

We received a good number of responses to our survey – 293 people in total.

Of those 293 people, 263 live in the local community. That means 36% of the local population answered the survey, which is high for a survey of this nature.

The breakdown of responses by age demographic and location within the community council area can be explored in the following interactive diagram. Each dot represents one survey respondent. Use the drop-down options beneath to see the dots move and understand how different people responded to the survey:

The survey area also included the much smaller settlement of Ardlui.  Three respondents lived in (or near) Ardlui.  Their responses largely reflected those from other parts of the area, with more local points including the condition of the A82, poor access to the railway station and the damp weather!

Thank you to everyone who completed a survey, and to all those who helped to encourage others to do so. With such a good response rate, the survey results form a strong basis from which to plan our future.

To view a PDF of the full results, follow this link:

CLICK HERE

In parallel with the community survey, a separate survey was distributed to businesses in West Loch Lomond. The survey asked business owners and operators a range of questions, on subjects including: staffing; recruitment; COVID; and how their business might be better supported in the future.

We have received 38 responses in total so far. The responses are a vital insight into the challenges faced by business operators in the area, and their prospects and aspirations for the future.

Responses have been received from a variety of business types, most of whom (75.4%) are in the tourism sector (i.e. visitor attraction, accommodation, retail, and hospitality):

Future Confidence

Generally, most businesses felt confident about their future in this location. When asked to rate their confidence on a scale from 1 (not confident) to 5 (very confident), 67.7% ranked it 4 or 5. Nobody ranked it as a 1.

Contact us

If you have any questions, please contact:

Nick Wright
nick@nickwrightplanning.co.uk
07900 334110