Rapid progress has been made in the bid to fully equip an Angus community hub for its role as the area’s first emergency resilience centre.
A year after the area around Eassie was badly hit by Storm Frank as it wreaked havoc on communities across Angus, Eassie, Nevay and Kirkinch Community Association has won thousands of pounds of grant support to kit out the hall at Balkeerie to deal with future disaster events.
The proposal emerged from the de-brief about the issues which faced those affected by Frank’s floodwaters and has led to the community leading the way in the district.
ENKCA opened the hall in 2011 after a decade of planning and having raised half of its £450,000 cost, and it continues to be a vibrant and well-used community base.
Original fluorescent lights in the function hall and kitchen have been replaced with LED lights thanks to a grant of £5,500 from Angus Environmental Trust.
SSE awarded a grant of £4000 towards the cost of installing switchgear for connecting to a generator and USB charging outlets and has also guaranteed to supply a generator if prolonged power cuts occur.
The SSE grant also covered the purchase of four water pumps and two-way radios.
Philip Jenkins of ENKCA said a Community Resilience Plan is now being prepared in conjunction with the emergency services (Police, Fire and Ambulance) and Angus Council.
“The hall is now a fully-functioning, standalone Command and Control centre, as well as a distribution hub,” he said.
“Two of the priorities of the plan are to identify the most vulnerable in the community and to assist local businesses to continue to function.
“A register is being created to ensure that vulnerable people in the community are identified and their special needs recorded so that in the event of an emergency, they can be visited and any needs catered for in conjunction with social and health services.
“The resilience centre would also be a place where community members who have their own businesses could continue to function.”
Discussions have taken place with Angus Council who have undertaken to supply the hall with food and bedding should a prolonged emergency occur.
Mr Jenkins added: “Eassie Hall is one of the first halls in Angus to commit to the resilience strategy and has invested significant time and its own money to equip the hall.”
