Author: David Leask, The Herald

CONSUMERS on two Scottish islands will be asked to use more power to keep wind turbines turning.

Householders on Orkney are to trial a revolutionary scheme to help overcome grid capacity problems plaguing renewable generation across northern Scotland.

Currently the islands’ generators, which are potentially the powerhouse of European green energy, often have to switch off because cables linking the islands to the mainland cannot carry all the clean electricity they produce.

That means that wind turbine owners, including community energy firms, lose income while rigid tariff rules mean there is no way to incentivise local consumers to use up more power when the wind blows most.

Now charity Community Energy Scotland and its partners have come up with what Orkney Island Council admits is a “sneaky” scheme to get around it.

They are to hook up homes and other consumers on the islands of Hoy and Rousay to a sophisticated IT scheme that “tells” storage heating systems when turbines are generating too much power for the grid and will have to shut if there is no outlet for their electricity.

Consumers will pay for the extra power to their normal provider – but local generators will then compensate them separately, allowing producer and user to share in the benefit of using electricity that would otherwise not be generated.

Shona Croy, head of Strategic development and regeneration on the islands, said: “We are losing a lot of income by these curtailments because of a lack of grid capacity and there is no compensation.

“The generators get no money back; they just get cut off.

“What is being proposed now is a system whereby when a generator is due to be turned off, we will turn you back back on and create a little bit more demand for energy.

“Under the existing tariff system there is no price incentives for consumers to do this. So why bother? So we are creating a system under which the generator will compensate you for the power that would otherwise be constrained.

“It’s quite sneaky and we would rather have a proper demand tariff. But this is a really novel idea.”

Orkney consumers currently do not automatically benefit from cheaper power thanks to local generation. So few have converted from the expensive traditional fuel oil heating systems.

The islands, despite being named as having Scotland’s highest quality of life before Christmas, have high levels of fuel poverty.

Local policy-makers believe they could be in a position where excess power – almost too cheap to meter – could heat homes and spark a major switch from carbon to green power.

Some renewable experts are already talking about the potential for the islands to become a major driving force for electric cars – which could be charged when there is too much power to export to Scotland.

Ms Croy said: “It is assumed by governments that electricity is dirty, so when we say we are going to reduce our carbon footprint by increasing electricity usage, that is totally at odds with their policy views, which is use less power and generate more renewables.

“We have done the last bit; we generate more renewables, now we want to increase our consumption; so that we are importing less fossil fuel.

“We are actually fighting against the government’s logic by doing this.

“Our problem is very simple: at the moment the cost of new grid connections; the way that they are triggered and then paid for, disadvantages generators the further away they are from London.”

Orkney imports some power but is a huge net exporter. However, just creating a single major cable across the Pentland Firth which separates it from Scotland could cost £50m-£60m.

But similar problems plague community and other green generators elsewhere in Scotland. Many are looking at ways of incentivising local demand for local power, inspired by work in off-grid communities like the island of Eigg.

Michael Rieley, Senior Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables, said: “Scotland’s islands have some of the best wind resource in Europe, and it is particularly exciting to see that they are also leading innovation in the way that we generate and use our vast renewables resources.

“Connecting the Scottish islands to the UK electricity network remains a vital step if we are to maximise the benefits of moving towards decentralised local renewables generation and away from more traditional sources of power.

“A fully-connected electricity network that sets the right incentives for consumers to respond to changes in supply, supported by the development of grid-scale storage, can create opportunities for the renewables industry which will allow us to continue to mitigate the effects of climate change and create even more investment and jobs.”

Author: The Guardian, By Oliver Wainwright

Granby Four Streets in Toxteth is a rare success after New Labour initiatives drained the area of life.

With relentless rows of boarded-up windows, punctuated by half-demolished corner shops and purple shocks of buddleia sprouting from the rooftops, the streets of Toxteth in inner-city Liverpool present an eerie, post-apocalyptic scene.

It is the result, not of some great environmental disaster or mass industrial collapse, but of a series of failed regeneration plans since the 1980s, most recently New Labour’s “Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders”, that have drained the streets of all life, to make way for promised visions that never arrived.

But turn the corner on to Cairns Street, at the bottom of the Granby Triangle – where only 70 out of 200 homes are still inhabited – and a busy scene erupts into life, an oasis amid the desolation. A street market is in full swing, beneath a dense bower of trees and climbing plants, while trainee builders erect scaffolding across the fine redbrick frontages either side of the road.

After 30 years of neglect, the few remaining residents of the Granby Four Streets have taken the future of the neighbourhood into their own hands: they’ve established a community land trust (CLT), taken ownership of the derelict properties from the council, and will have the first 10 homes refurbished by March.

“We never thought we’d see this day come,” says Eleanor Lee, 65, who moved to the area in 1976 and has witnessed its progressive decline since the 1981 race riots, which saw buildings torched and 500 people arrested. “After the riots an invisible red line was drawn around the area – it was an unspoken policy of no maintenance and no investment. Once houses are boarded up it sends a signal.”

“We were condemned,” says Hazel Tilley, 59, who lives a few doors down. “It was punishment for the riots. Bins weren’t collected, streets weren’t swept and a mythology built up: people came here to buy their drugs or dump their shite.”

Things began to change four years ago, when residents organised a guerilla gardening group to green the streets, with tubs and wild planting that have since won a Northwest in Bloom award, and began organising a monthly market, selling vintage clothes, cakes and Caribbean food. “It completely turned the atmosphere around: now we had a pretty street that we could all be proud of,” says Lee. “Even if it was still empty.”

With the help of local housing campaigner Ronnie Hughes, they formed a CLT in 2011 and attracted funding from a Jersey-based social investor, Steinbeck Studios, to put together a plan for the area, drawn up by young London architecture collective, Assemble. With a track record of building temporary projects that have breathed life into abandoned sites with unusual beauty and wit – from converting a petrol station into a cinema, to making a performance space beneath a flyover – the practice has brought a fresh approach to how these empty homes could be rethought on the tightest of budgets.

“We want to retain the generosity and flexibility of the original buildings,” says Assemble’s Lewis Jones, pointing out how nearby pathfinder new-builds have much meaner windows and tighter space standards. “We’re also celebrating the idiosyncrasies of what’s already there: if a floor is missing, why not leave it out and have a double-height space? There isn’t the usual pressure to extract the maximum possible value from the site and put profit before people.”

A second phase of work, planned for the next street along, imagines a spectacular winter garden within the empty brick shell of a gutted house, as well as a new terrace to complete the other side of the street – which was bulldozed to make way for a plan that failed to materialise. The plans for the first 10 homes are kept simple, says Jones, and don’t require wet trades in order to open up the process of construction to local young people. Five will be put up for market sale while the other five will be available for affordable rent to members of the CLT.

“I love Assemble’s attitude,” says Lee. “They’re so bold and fearless in their designs, and they’ve worked so closely with us to interpret our vision. It’s so different to how the housing associations operate.”

The project, which is joint-funded by Steinbeck, central government’s Empty Homes initiative and the Nationwide Foundation, represents a rare example community land trust in an urban context. Originally imported from the US, the model keeps the land in community ownership in perpetuity, with houses sold or rented at a rate that is permanently linked to local incomes. There are now over 170 such groups in the UK, mostly in rural areas due to prohibitive land values in cities, but a national CLT network was launched in July with a pot of £3m, to encourage their growth in urban areas.

“It’s a tipping point,” says Ann O’Byrne, Liverpool’s cabinet member for housing. “The council has abandoned these people for the last 30 years and left them to fester. But now we’ve gifted the homes to the CLT and they’re showing that this will be the place to live, right on the edge of the city centre.”

“What’s happening in Granby is an important prototype for northern councils, who’ve been so badly hit by the cuts,” says Ronnie Hughes. “Two years ago, the whole area was nearly signed over to a private developer, but now the people who live here have finally got a formal stake in the place. It’s an extraordinary achievement – and now it’s extraordinary forever.”

Author: Kenny Smith , Rutherglen Reformer

The Reformer can exclusively reveal that plans to create a multi-million pound national cycle road-racing centre in Cambuslang have been outlined.

Scottish Cycling met with representatives from a group behind the bid at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow last month, to establish a dedicated closed-road training/racing facility in the town.

A site has been identified at Bogleshole Road, on waste ground at the back of the old Hoover facility, and the Reformer understands that the land is currently owned by Scottish Enterprise. We believe that a firm has an option on this land which will expire in early 2015, but they are unlikely to take this up.

The area – known as Site 22 – is 82,500 square metres, and has been a dumping ground in recent years, and is unsuitable for a major development, for either industrial use or housing.

The proposal has been developed by Cambuslang Community Council, CamGlen Bike Town (part of the Healthy ‘n’ Happy Community Development Trust), South Lanarkshire Council, South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture, and cyclists from East Kilbride Road Club.

Community council treasurer John Bachtler said: “The area we’ve identified has been vacant since the early 1970s, when it was known as Hamilton Farm, and was previously used for agriculture.

“What we’re proposing is an outdoor track of between 1.5 and two kilometres, with the option of a shorter loop, floodlighting, changing rooms, toilets and showers, a clubhouse and cafe, and parking for coaches and cars.

“There is varied terrain, giving scope for an undulating course with different gradients, and it is separate from residential areas, meaning there will be minimal disturbance from noise, traffic and floodlighting.

“There are also plenty of cycling activities based nearby, with the Cathkin Braes mountain bike centre, the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, the Cuningar Forest Park track, and the South Lanarkshire Lifestyle sports centre.

“Cambuslang is in a great position for this because it can reach 63.1 per cent of the Scottish population within 60 minutes.

“There are also great train and bus links, with Cambuslang and Carmyle train stations both being closs by, and plenty of bus routes.”

A Scottish Enterprise spokesperson said: “Site 22 is not leased at present but is the subject of an option agreement that expires early next year. Notwithstanding that agreement, we have recently been approached by a party potentially interested in the site, however we are not at liberty to discuss the detail of this approach at this time.”

The team behind the bid has investigated similar facilities, looking at a £4.5 million facility in Redbridge in Essex, which opened in 2008, and the £10 million Cyclopark in Kent.

John added: “We’ve spoken to representatives of canoeing and rowing groups on the Clyde, as there are few places for them to access this part of the river. We would like to be able to incorporate something for them in this project too, so they have a safe place to launch.”

A Scottish Cycling spokesperson said: “Our facilities strategy identifies the need for multi-discipline cycling hubs throughout Scotland.

“Scottish Cycling believe that having safe, local, accessible cycling facilities throughout Scotland will aid the development of our sport.

“Local cycling facilities will not only help generate youth participation and develop the skills of existing riders throughout Scotland but will also aid the progression of our coaches, leaders and club volunteers.”

Last month, the Reformer revealed that Cambuslang Community Council, South Lanarkshire Council and Healthy ‘n’ Happy are looking to create a new cycle path along the south side of the River Clyde, linking Cambuslang and Rutherglen.

The plans have been given a warm reception.

Chair of the South Lanarkshire Cycling Partnership, Councillor Graham Simpson, also welcomed the proposal – but stressed that it is only a plan at present.

He said: “It’s only a proposal at this stage, but it’s an exciting proposal.

“There’s an awful lot of work that needs to be done to make it a reality, so I don’t want people to get too excited at this stage – but if it were to come off, it would be fantastic.

“There’s a clearly a need for a facility like this in Scotland, as there isn’t one at present, and it would give people the ability to train off-road.

“We’ve got the Velodrome nearby, which is great, but there’s nothing outdoors, so for people who like to cycle outside, there’s absolutely nowhere to train at present – that’s why this proposal is such a good idea.

“The other thing we could potentially do is to use the Clyde, and create a canoeing/kayaking centre. It doesn’t have to be just for cycling.

“We could also get children involved through the Bikeability Scotland scheme as well.

“One of the real barriers for cycling is the fear of going out on the road, so if we have a facility like this, it might encourage more kids to train and learn how to cycle safely.

“For all those residents, it could be a great project, but I stress there’s still an awful lot of work to be done to make it a reality.

“Scottish Enterprise own the land so there would have to be negotiations there, but everyone we speak to is very supportive of this.”

Cambuslang West councillor Richard Tullett added: “One of my highlights of 2014 has been my involvement with the bike project.

“It’s a really committed team who have a very far-reaching vision, and it’s been good to be about to join the project board, working alongside Councillor Graham Simpson, the chair of the council’s cycling partnership.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops in 2015.”

Gregor Yeoman, coach at the East Kilbride Road Club, said: “There’s nowhere local where it’s safe to train children and young people in road-racing.

“We have used industrial estates and circuits belonging to other sports, but that isn’t always possible and some have proved to be unsuitable as they are not dedicated cycle tracks.

“So we need a dedicated facility if we’re going to produce the next generation of Sir Chris Hoys.”

Author: ITV Border News

Councillors have agreed to fund the building of a permanent home for the Great Tapestry of Scotland in the Borders.

Members of Scottish Borders Council voted 21-10 in favour of allocating up to £3.5 million towards the project which will be built on a greenfield site on an industrial estate in Tweedbank, near Galashiels, Selkirkshire.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland is seen as an outstanding celebration of Scottish history and achievement from the end of the last ice age to the 21st century.

More than 1,000 volunteer stitchers worked for 55,000 hours using 300 miles of wool to create the 160 panels of this extraordinary work of art. The 143-metre long Tapestry has been seen by over 100,000 visitors during its touring displays over Scotland.

It will now be sited near to the end of the new £353 million Borders Railway line which is currently under construction linking the region with Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government has pledged £2.5 million towards the scheme and the green light for the Borders contribution was given after Jura Consultants said the tapestry would bring money to the local economy.

A council report described it as a “unique opportunity” for the Scottish Borders to have an “exhibition of national significance” with ties to the region’s textiles traditions.

“I am delighted that Elected Members have supported this project and we hope to provide a truly inspirational visitor centre that will act as a gateway to the Borders and encourage visitors not only to view the Tapestry but to go to the many other visitor attractions throughout our region.

“We have worked hard to secure the Tapestry for the Borders and there were many other locations in Scotland who were very keen to offer the Tapestry a permanent home.

“We have been able to demonstrate to the Tapestry Trustees that our Borders proposal was a very unique and special one and I was delighted earlier this year to secure the support of the Scottish Government who will be a major funder of the project.”

– COUNCILLOR DAVID PARKER, LEADER OF THE COUNCIL

“I am very pleased that this special Tapestry will have its permanent home in the Scottish Borders.

“It is a truly magnificent work of art which will become a national treasure and I have no doubt that the many visitors to the Tapestry will not only return to see it again, but will return to the Borders to see the many other attractions here.”

– COUNCILLOR IAIN GILLESPIE

Author: Rural Network

To view the video showing how ‘happy’ people are to be living in Grantown click here

This June, Grantown will be celebrating the laying of the first stone of the first building (a linen manufactory) of what is a unique Scottish Eighteenth Century planned settlement.

On 28th June 1765, John Grant, a weaver from Rothiemurchus, watched the start of his new business venture which within that summer was to be one of several new buildings in James Grant of Grant’s new town.

Exactly two hundred and fifty years later Grantown will be marking this event and highlighting all that this vibrant community has since become. Few places, better than Grantown, can illustrate the changes in Highland life in the second half of the Eighteenth Century. The project will thus also tell something of this little known story.  During the week ending twenty- eighth of June 2015 the town will host a wide diversity of related events, the planning for which has already begun.

This project, Grantown 250, is being co-ordinated by The Grantown Society.

Author: City Strolls

To view the website The Farmhouse Project click here

About the Common Good

In Scotland the common good is 500 years old. It represents the generosity of probably millions of  people, is writ large through our culture, is something everyone, rich, poor, old, young, black, white, stranger, neighbour, can share in. The common good is proof of the friendliness and open armed welcoming nature of our people. A human nature we want to encourage, not lose.

The fund is made up of public owned assets worth tens of millions of pounds in different places all over the country and has laws in place to protect it. The fund is unique to Scotland, consisting of art galleries, libraries, nurseries, buildings, land, parks, and movable assets, such as artwork, furniture jewellery, robes of office, gifts to the city, library collections, as well as things ordinary people have gifted to the Common Good.

Over the years many of these assets have disappeared, been forgotten about, lost, misappropriated and stolen,particularly many of the movable assets. It is the responsibility (duty) of councils around the country to provide stewardship of our Common Good Fund, in perpetuity so that future generations can enjoy its benefits as have past generations. The importance of this fund goes well past the substantial, financial and physical assets. The Common Good is an integral part of our history. It also has to be considered. If ordinary people do not have the commons, what do they have?

The biggest problem has been the lack of public awareness that the fund even exists. Some councils are, rather than encouraging public interest, beginning to see our commons as cheap land for building, and business developments. Private bills are being taken out to circumvent common good law and to build on parks. Schools, hospitals, housing, are being built on public parks. Councils are beginning to offer package park space to business for development. The Common Good at its roots began by small groups of people taking a collectivist approach to looking after what they shared. Today the same approach is needed as councils renege on their responsibility in protecting our common land and assets.

 If we do not use it, we lose it. But first we need to know. What it is, where it is, and to take back control of it. What we are proposing is. Why can’t the stewardship of these funds be administered by a more responsible and accountable administration.

Why can’t these funds be used to build a civic network across whole the country? Many of the problems in small villages up north are much the same as those of the inner cities. Why can’t these assets be used by young people to encourage responsibility in ensuring the longevity of these assets that my generation and generations before have enjoyed all of their lives?

About the Farmhouse

The farmhouse is an old building that sits in the community garden. The structure forms part of the community’s Common Good Fund, as does the park it sits in. The building has lain derelict for many years and is in a bad state of repair. We want to rebuild it as an independent community resource and include as many of the community in the task as possible.

The project will work as a learning tool and involve the community in the planning, the building and through this process inform how the place could function, what it could be used for and how it could best represent the community.

To find out more, or better still come and join us click here

Author: BBC

Eigg population ‘could rise above 100’

The number of islanders living on Eigg could rise above 100 in the coming year, it has been predicted.

The population has been growing since the island was brought into community ownership in 1997, after decades of problems with absentee landlords.

The island has a new ferry terminal and has seen the installation of renewable energy to power homes.

Many of the new residents are the children of families who left when the island was privately owned.

Author: Scottish Government

 A map of where Scotland’s community councils are located

Click here for the web based map

This map doesn’t reflect the geographic boundaries of each community council. If this is what you are looking for, this PDF is a map of community council boundaries click here

Author: Senscot

Scottish Community Re:Investment Trust, a new independent charity aiming to transform how Scotland’s third sector uses and thinks about its finances, was launched last week. The trust’s first initiative is a specially designed new savings account to be introduced at today’s Glasgow Social Enterprise Trade Fair.

With a lack of Scottish-focused banks offering any longer a transparent way for people or third sector organisations to invest in line with their values – and with the existing financial framework failing to adequately meet the needs of charities and socially focused organisations – the trust is setting out to create radical change.

It plans to help independent charities and socially beneficial organisations to harness their collective assets, strengthen their financial expertise and gain access to financial services tailored to their specific needs.

The new Anchor Savings Account – provided by Airdrie Savings Bank, Britain’s last independent savings bank – offers a fresh and tailored focus for third sector savings. By connecting hundreds of separate accounts beneath one umbrella, the pioneering account will increase the impact of the sector’s shared financial clout.

“Scotland’s third sector, which does huge amounts of public good, desperately needs access to a financial infrastructure that matches its values and ways of working. For charities and socially beneficial organisations, the current financial system is broken beyond repair – leaving them hampered by scattered resources, unsuitable products and unmet needs,” said Deirdre Forsyth, Chair of Scottish Community Re:Investment Trust.

“By acting together and harnessing its collective assets – and by strengthening its understanding and knowledge of socially responsible use and management of money – the third sector can use its substantial financial resources to invest in its own future in alternative and better ways than is currently possible.”

Scotland’s third sector includes an estimated 45,000 different and richly varied organisations. Its investable assets have been calculated to be approximately £3.8 billion, according to the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations – but these substantial resources are currently spread across financial institutions that are mostly uninterested in the third sector’s work or needs. If just one per cent of these assets were invested more strategically, it could transform the sector’s economic independence and its influence on banking practices.

Malcolm Hayday, former INAISE president and Advisor to Scottish Community Re:Investment Trust, said: “By building a common, collective and shared wealth there is huge scope for organisations to invest in and support the development of the wider third sector – recycling its investment resources and creating significant benefits for its crucial work for society, our environment and people’s well-being. In the sector, we focus on the positive impact of everything we do except when it comes to our financial reserves.”

Scottish Community Re:Investment Trust cites evidence of widespread third sector dissatisfaction with current financial services. This includes recent research for Charity Bank, which revealed that although 65% of respondents believed that loans can benefit charities’ work, only 31% of those approaching a high street bank for a loan took one, 29% were declined and 40% could not take up offered loans because of onerous terms.

With many UK social investment schemes underpinned by a focus on private investor returns rather than social, environmental and wider economic benefits, third sector organisations can also struggle to meet increasing expectations that their business decisions should be ethically based.

Another problem is that while a key third sector role is to act as society’s social antennae – identifying new needs, and inventing and testing new social solutions – such work is traditionally unbankable, often being viewed as too experimental and risky for commercial and even many social funders. Yet the sector needs supplies of relatively small amounts of high-risk investment, as well as micro loans and unsecured loans, to incubate new generations of start-ups.

Although the social finance market within the UK – and especially Scotland – is relatively small, since the financial crisis it is gaining recognition as an important funding source for third sector organisations, including the supply of early stage investments and start-ups, fostering innovation and supporting community-based investments. But as the third sector’s resource needs increase – and as its requirement to invest in its own future becomes more acute – its members will need to act together more whenever possible.

As it explores the third sector’s appetite to work across Scotland in a new, more cooperative way on finance, Scottish Community Re:Investment Trust’s own long-term future will depend on the response of the sector. The Anchor Savings Account allows organisations to choose to donate a proportion of earned interest to the trust – allowing the charity to become self-sustaining following an initial period of grant funding. Discussions are underway with several organisations to act as early standard bearers for the new initiative.

The trust has been established with a founding Board and team with extensive experience of social banking institutions and the third sector, founded by several organisations – Senscot, CEIS, Penumbra and Ekopia – and chaired by Deirdre Forsyth, Chair of ScotWest Credit Union. It is registered as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) and is to be owned and managed by Scotland’s third sector.

During an initial two-year implementation phase, the trust will build its membership amongst Scotland’s third sector organisations, from which a new board will be elected in late 2015.

Author: Carnegie Trust

A new report by the Carnegie UK Trust has highlighted the importance of well-designed public spaces, such as parks, town squares, local streets and community gardens to people’s health and wellbeing.

The findings come as the Trust announced the overall winner of its first ever Carnegie Prize for Design and Wellbeing, Auchencairn Link Park, a community led project based in Dumfries and Galloway. The prize has been awarded in partnership with the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) and the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) and celebrates projects where local communities have played a leading role in improving public spaces in town centres through high quality design and architecture.

Auchencairn Link Park is a community led project to transform wasteland at the centre of the Dumfries and Galloway village of Auchencairn into a thriving community garden and learning spaces has today been announced the overall winner.

Martyn Evans, Chief Executive of the Carnegie UK Trust, explains more: “There is a clear link between the quality of our local environment and our wellbeing. Our intention with the Carnegie Prize for Design and Wellbeing was to shine a spotlight on the important role that well-designed, community-led, public spaces can play in supporting good mental and physical health, providing places for people to come together and facilitating local enterprise and regeneration. Our 5 inspirational prize winners and the overall winner do just that.”

“However well-designed community led public spaces should be the rule not the exception. That is why today we set out 5 actions that policymakers can take to ensure that more communities have access to good quality public spaces.”

“Community-led design is both a means and an end to improved wellbeing and is a particularly valuable tool in helping tackle deeply rooted health inequalities. More support for projects like those highlighted through the Carnegie Prize should be a key component of a preventative approach to health improvement.”

“Communities need better access to funding and support to turn their design ideas and aspirations into reality. Local and national governments need to support and encourage community creativity and participation. Community led public space projects should be central to town centre regeneration efforts and the link between good quality public space and improved social and economic outcomes should be clearly reflected in local strategies and plans.”

The Prize which was launched in March 2014 was open to community led townscape improvement projects across Scotland and Northern Ireland. The 5 winners (four from Scotland and one from Northern Ireland) who received a prize of £2,500 each were unveiled at the RIAS convention in May. The Auchencairn project will also receive an additional £1,000 in recognition of their outstanding achievement.

Iain Connelly, President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), said: ”I was delighted to be involved in the judging for the Carnegie prize for Design and Wellbeing. There is no doubt in my mind that good design most certainly does make a difference – and potentially, a significant difference – to the lives and wellbeing of communities and individuals across Scotland. Good design doesn’t have to be expensive, so it shouldn’t be seen as an extra. Rather, it should be present in everything we do, for every project, however big, however small.”

Margaret Burns, Chair of NHS Health Scotland said: “We welcome the findings of the report which show the important role well-designed, community led, public spaces can play in supporting good mental and physical health and tackling inequalities. Empowering communities to help shape how public services are planned and delivered, is beneficial for everyone’s wellbeing.”

Phoebe Marshall, Auchencairn Community Garden (overall winner) said: “We are delighted with the recognition of our work with the community. Throughout, this project has been about people, and whilst community workshops and work parties are not always the simplest way to create a garden, it is an approach which creates great experiences, knowledge, new friendships and a beautiful space that will be used by the whole village for a range of activities.”

”The project has really brought the community together and we are immensely proud of the energy and enthusiasm local people have given to transform Auchencairn Link park from a disused field into the lovely garden that it is today”.