The vision is to create a public space in King Street to host events, markets, or just for meeting friends.  It's hoped that seating, an all-weather covered area, and planting, including trees, can be installed and the street pedestrianised to give Larkhall a town square-style community space at the heart of the town centre. 

The idea came from the 2019 community survey and South Lanarkshire Council has funded a feasibility study to allow the local organisations behind the proposal to take their idea forward.  

With the launch of the online surveys this week - one for the public, the second for the business community - this now provides an opportunity for local people to give their views on the proposal. The hope is that as many as possible will lend their opinions and help to create an exciting new future for King Street, and for the town. 

One of the key community organisations behind the ambitious proposal is Larkhall Community Growers. The group’s Chairperson, Nancy Barr, has urged everyone with an interest in the future of the town to get involved.  

She added: “The purpose of this consultation is to directly respond to what the people of Larkhall said they wanted for their town. Now that Covid-19 has happened, the lack of outdoor community space has become even more of an issue, and we know from speaking with people locally that the opportunity to come together as a community is something that’s more important now than ever."

The survey invites local people to think about what an outdoor community space might be used for – from seating to bike parking; performance areas to history and heritage information; planting and landscaping to event spaces. 

Nancy added: “People told us they wanted somewhere to sit during the day or even in summer evenings, a place to meet to have a chat, and a place for activities to be carried out, so King Street seemed the obvious choice. We saw with the Christmas market in December just how supportive local people are of community events, and we see a big opportunity to build on that fantastic community spirit.” 

Chair of the council's Community and Enterprise Resources Committee, Councillor John Anderson, said: “This proposal is being driven by members of the community who have a real vision for their town and a real understanding of the hopes and ambitions of local people. 

“We are backing this with funding from the Town Centre Action Fund which I am delighted to see is now enabling them, as we return slowly to normal, to take their ideas forward and see how they could work in reality.” 

Paper copies of the surveys will also be available from the Lighthouse on King Street.  Both surveys are open till Friday 4 February.