A SURVEY could be sent to people throughout Haddington in a bid to find out what people want for the town.

Haddington has grown substantially in recent years, with hundreds of new homes built or under construction.

Now, Haddington and District Community Council is weighing up the possibility of creating a survey which would be open to everyone living in the town.

Therese Laing, who was appointed chairwoman of the group in October, said: “I would really like us to work with community groups in Haddington and work for the whole area and the whole community.

“I wondered if we should create some sort of survey asking what the community would really like from their community council.”

A similar scheme took place in nearby Athelstaneford, which also comes under the umbrella of Haddington’s community council.

Malcolm Vickers, who represents the village on the group, was supportive of a similar initiative in Haddington.

In Athelstaneford, a number of projects and priorities were identified which are now being driven forward.

Mr Vickers told members that he found the exercise to be “very useful” but added: “Haddington is a lot bigger and more of a challenge.”

Mrs Laing told the Courier that the proposed survey was very much still in the early stages.

However, she was keen for it not to duplicate any other survey or consultation planned for the area.

Discussions are taking place between the community council and East Lothian Council about what could happen.

Mrs Laing stressed that it was important the survey was not simply offering people the chance to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but giving them a chance to have their say.

She added: “I think it is really important the community council is really working for the community. It is really important to know what they would like, what improvements they would like to see from the community council within their area.”

Councillor John McMillan, who represents the town on East Lothian Council, was among those at the virtual meeting of the community council last month.

He felt it was important that the group did “what it says on the tin” and was the council for the community.

Mr McMillan said: “I think anything that engages folk is useful but I am not always sure that surveys are the best way.

“There are lots of channels for people to engage through the community council, through community groups.

“There is probably quite a lot of information out there but it is always good to be gauging opinion and out there listening to folk.

“There is always ‘what do you do with the responses?’ and how do you measure the success and how authentic and representative it is of the real community.”