Community-Driven Place Making
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September 2016 Community-driven place making ‘Lamlash, Arran (Irvine HA) Produced as part of the Scottish Government’s Joint Housing Delivery Plan by: GWSF Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations Contents Foreword In conjunction with a range of housing Foreword Pages 2-3 organisations, the Scottish Government has developed a Joint Housing Delivery Plan to help achieve its housing objectives. Some of New homes the actions arising from this Plan are specifi c in Ardgeal, steps which may be needed to, for example, Kincraig facilitate the provision of new homes. Other actions in the Plan are about promoting Pages 4-5 good practice, and that’s what this short publication aims to do. Action point 17 in the Plan begins with “people want to infl uence what happens in their New homes neighbourhood”, and so this booklet draws together in Helmsdale, some examples from across Scotland of how place making – in most cases involving the provision of new Sutherland homes – has been driven by the local community. Pages 6-7 This will have been the case since time began and will always be the case, but with just a short step back into the history books we see where the housing New homes association movement was started, in the main as community led organisations, by communities who in Gairloch, wanted to infl uence and meet their local needs Wester Ross adequately. This has been hugely successful and still allows community infl uence in a lot of areas. Pages 8-9 For those outside the housing association movement it has been a more mixed picture historically. More recently, though, initiatives such as the Community Regeneration Empowerment Act, Land Reform Act, Scottish Land of Laurieston, Fund and Rural Housing Fund have provided the tools Glasgow for empowering and enabling more direct infl uence over a wider area. Pages 10-11 The case studies in this publication show good practice at work on a range of developments and via different interactions with communities, from those Regeneration of who want nothing more than to nudge development Castlemilk Park, along through others to those that want to deliver, own and even manage assets. Glasgow The current strategic direction of travel is hugely Pages 12-13 encouraging for communities, although it’s important that community groups are empowered to take action where they feel they have a responsibility, a capacity New homes in and a need to make use of the opportunities provided by the current strategic context and not simply Lamlash, Isle of because others believe they should. The clue to the Arran essence of “community led development” is in the name! Pages 14-15 2 Foreword Before and After (New Gorbals HA) That said, a great many communities do have Community empowerment tools have been put in the need and the will to effectively infl uence place, but so too have many other policies which sit their neighbourhood development, and they will outside the direct community development sphere, naturally rely on support from current leaders in the and they have the potential to create a contradiction neighbourhood development fi eld in order to build which can confl ict with and constrain community sustainable capacity within their community. led place-making within the planning system. If Anchor organisations such as housing associations, the relationship and level of priority between all Rural Housing Enablers and development trusts etc. the relevant policies are unclear, community led or need to be accessible and be working with a clear community supported development will suffer and and consistent understanding of the system and risk being lost in bureaucracy. options available to communities. This sector has the This document showcases good and varied examples potential to become mainstream and effective whilst of place making. For Scotland to have a bottom up, at the same time provide a complementary addition sustainable place making culture moving forward, to the various other key stakeholders. policies need to be pro-development and have For effective community led place-making - as per the suffi cient priority within the planning system, sitting case studies - to continue or be expanded, the new alongside a strong support network that works initiatives, along with the experience built up over the effectively with planners and policy makers to help years with the many partnering options this can help deliver the stronger and more viable communities facilitate, the sector will require clear direction and which are essential for a prosperous Scotland. support from within Scottish Government and the planning system. GWSF Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations 3 New homes in Ardgeal, Kincraig • Community driven project, facilitated by Highland Small Communities Summary Housing Trust Set in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park on land previously owned by Forestry • A housing model which may be used in Commission Scotland, Ardgeal is now a thriving other communities addition to the community of Kincraig. This community driven project was delivered over • Low carbon footprint – 10 sustainable two phases. Ten sustainable timber homes homes for low cost home ownership were built by local contractors A W Laings, and designed by award winning architect David • Land purchased through Forestry Somerville. Commission Scotland’s National Forest Local trainees were involved in the construction Land Scheme for affordable housing of six homes, with much of the felled timber being reused on the site. Local materials were • Wide social, environmental and used where possible to minimise impacts on economic benefits to the area, this environmentally sensitive area. including the primary school remaining The tenure of the homes is low cost home open ownership, through a Rural Housing Burden with a pre-emption right and an equity share (eight • 39 local companies used, and local homes @ 65% and two homes @ 70%) protects timber and other materials the ongoing affordability of the homes if they are sold in the future. Additional land is being • Employment and training considered for a forest croft. opportunities provided 4 New homes in Ardgeal, Kincraig Community involvement Successes The Kincraig Community Council approached The This is an exemplar rural housing project achieved through Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust (HSCHT) excellent community co-operation. The regular attendance in 2006 following concerns over the closure of the at community council meetings was a key factor in local primary school. This sparked a survey of local effective community engagement. This route allowed the household need, to establish the most suitable house members of the community council and local people to sizes and tenures, followed by a search for suitable discuss the elements of the project together with staff development sites. from HSCHT. This gave the community a voice and the end result is a more engaged and involved community and a Argdeal was identifi ed by the community, who were good relationship with HSCHT into the future. involved in all of the key stages of development, such as: the successful application to the National Forest Land An option presented to the community as part of the Scheme; density of homes; selection of the architect; joint working was for them to own some homes to let review of phase 1; design of phase 2, and the community out to local people as a community business, although provided strong support for planning applications. they chose not to follow this route. When the fi rst phase of four homes was developed, the The community councillors acted as an intermediary for community was involved in agreeing a suitable allocations the residents, who had questions throughout the process, policy with HSCHT, which was used for both phases. and they continue to be involved and engaged. Households with a local connection are now living in all of the homes, which has satisfi ed the brief of sustaining the primary school roll. Challenges The community council chose the name “Ardgeal” by Time had to be built into the project to engage properly referring to old maps of the area. The name is Gaelic: “ard” with the wider community throughout. This adds a layer means height or promontory, and “geal” means white. of consultation to many processes, and trying to reach consensus can slow things down. In the fi rst phase, some changes to the layout and the specifi cation of the homes was required to meet the fi nancial budget set, and this had to be carefully explained and discussed with those concerned. The main challenges were fi nding a suitable funding mechanism to deliver the fi rst phase of the project, both in terms of development fi nance and fi nance for the individual purchasers. There were many economic changes at this time which impacted on its delivery. The second phase was initially postponed due to changes in grant funding and available fi nance. Once complete the ten households work together to manage common areas, such as the social space in the centre of the development. Contact Ronnie MacRae Chief Executive Offi cer The Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust [email protected] 01463 233 549 5 New homes in Helmsdale, Sutherland • Community owned homes for rent – four two-bedroom homes and three Summary self-build plots provided Helmsdale is a small community located • Land transfer secured by Highland on the north east coast of Scotland in the Small Communities Housing Trust, sparsely populated county of Sutherland. Affordable housing was identified as a along with the first grant to kick start priority by the community as no new the project homes had been provided there for around 35 years and this was seen to be having a • Fundraising by local development negative impact on the sustainability of officer – 18 different funders the community.