Wind turbines fund community cinema day at village hall

Back Munro Mitchell and Anthony Cunningham, with Lola Smart and Abigail Cunningham (front). Pic by George McLuskie.

Dozens of adults and children turned up to the village hall at the weekend for the very first community cinema day which saw the screening of Paddington 2 and Murder on the Orient Express.

It was put on by the Auchtertool Community Trust, a fully registered company, which was only set up a few weeks ago to take control of funds from the Gevins Wind Farm on land at Clentrie Farm on the outskirts of the village.

By law, the money has to be used for the benefit of residents living in Auchtertool, and a questionnaire was recently sent out to every household in the village, asking people what they would like to see it spent on.

Former councillor Susan Leslie has been appointed chairman of the management committee which currently has eight members, with space for more residents to get on board.

And the community film day was the first event to be staged for families to come together to enjoy some festive spirit.

“We wanted to show people right away that we are listening to what they want, and it was a very successful event,” said Susan.

“The feedback was incredibly positive, with everyone saying they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and we would hope to put on another film event in the near future.”

Alison McAlpine, another member of the committee and a trustee, echoed her sentiments.

“We had 83 people at Paddington, and 54 at the later film which was a great turnout for a first event,” she said.

“The village hall can hold about 100 people and it was good to stage the first event there, but we are also looking at other venues for a community hub because the hall is used by the school and other organisations.”

The chairman added: “We are also looking at the feasibility of running a community cafe/restaurant/pub and shop hub, possibly in the former Tiel Restaurant premises, but that will be a much longer-term plan.

“It was good to be able to offer residents the film event as a quick result on something they had asked for.

“We are hoping to do another one soon and I am sure that events like this will help to bring people of all ages together in the village and build on the community spirit, which is already very apparent among the residents .’’