Communities to have say in the design of their area

Communities across Scotland can bid to take part in a new £325,000 scheme to regenerate their neighbourhood.

The Making Places Initiative will help bring communities together to agree improvements for their area based on local need and priorities.

The expanded scheme has grown from the success of a previous Charette programme which teamed local people with design professionals to look at what would improve their places and communities.

This new initiative will continue to offer support for events of this type alongside more comprehensive support to deliver on these ideas.

Minister for local government Kevin Stewart said: “From the Borders to the Western Isles, the people who live, work and socialise in our communities have the best local knowledge to consider how that place should evolve and regenerate and I would encourage people across the country to consider applying.

“This new Making Places Initiative allows more opportunities for communities to choose what works for them. It takes the success we’ve seen through community collaboration and increases the focus on encouraging and enabling more and more people to become involved.”