Trust bids farewell to Bill …

The recent retiral of Bill Pagan from the chair and board of Cupar Development Trust marks the end of an era. Bill was one of the early architects and innovators of the Trust back in 2015. As an active board member, Bill took over the chair in 2019 from his predecessor David Kirk. Trust Board member, Rick Bond, shares more …

Through a number of board manifestations, Cupar has seen the efforts and benefits of Cupar Development Trust (CDT) instigating a number of initiatives – from the significant work that led to the plans for Cupar’s Inner Court to the interpretive signage project.

Bill has supported these and other initiatives and, during his tenure as Chair, has been a driver on other projects that have seen the Trust evolve, respond to the challenges of lockdowns and take the lead on developing community action and local place plans, all with the town’s future in mind.

Collaboration

During the COVID years, Bill formed a ‘forum’ which, although held online initially, managed to maintain important dialogues between the contributory organisations – starting as a gathering of just eight and ending as a collaboration of more than 40 associations, clubs, groups and societies.

It was during this time that – working with CuparNow – Bill was instrumental in helping to create a Community Directory that now features 90+ community groups . It sits online with open access for all to use. Post the final lockdown, the ‘Cupar Forum’ manifested in the first Cupar Celebration Weekend. This also led to other initiatives such as the “picnic in the park” which celebrated the Diamond Jubilee in 2022, and Bill was instrumental in the town marking the passing of the late Queen in 2022.

Bill led on a project to help showcase Cupar as being at the centre of a North East Fife ‘terroir’ – helping to create a website featuring more than 800 businesses in and Food & Drink sector, mapped for ease of access for the visitor. Cupar’s key role was to be the start and end point for a series of seven Food & drink Trails – all featured on a subsequent leaflet that was distributed to outlets across NE Fife through 2022/23.

CDT’s work with CuparNow continued with the recording of a series of Lectures & Talks that sit on a playlist hosted via CuparNow’s YouTube channel. The Trust also enabled CuparNow to make and broadcast the TV commercial that ran in 2022 and 2023 – the Trust’s support ensuring matched funding from STV. To date, the commercial has been seen by more than 500,000 people.

Consolidation

Under Bill’s chairmanship, CDT consolidated and strengthened its operations by recruiting a Development Officer and an Administration Officer. Subsequently, this led to the creation of a Community Action Plan and the Local Place Plan which, over time, will influence the development of Cupar and District’s infrastructure in alignment with Fife Council’s strategy.

The CDT chair has now been passed to Tony Miklinski who, as many will know, was a well-respected councillor within Cupar & District. Tony’s aim is to build on the solid foundation that Bill Pagan and previous Chairs and board members have developed.

Tony says: “Bill has steered CDT through what have been very choppy waters during Covid and lockdowns. Despite those challenges, he has not only strengthened the Trust by ensuring we won funding to bring on support staff to carry out essential planning initiatives, but he has worked on numerous projects that are now a lasting legacy of his time in the Chair. I – together with the current board – thank him for his tireless endeavours, and wish him every success in his ongoing work with Three Estates Cupar.

Caption: our feature image shows Bill Pagan (centre) with Nicky & Rick Bond at the Societies’ Gathering in Haugh Park in September 2022.

Thanks for reading.