Housing

A housing project in a small community on the Isle of Mull has won one of the 2017 SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration.

The Ulva Ferry Housing project took home the Housing award at the award ceremony on 7 December. The project is delivering affordable family housing in a remote rural community on the West Coast of the Isle of Mull, tackling depopulation and socio-economic decline. 

WAT IF? (Woolfords, Auchengray and Tarbrax Improvement Foundation) has taken its first step into the property market by purchasing a three-bedroom house in the rural village of Tarbrax.

WAT IF? plans to refurbish the property and convert it into an affordable rental to meet local housing needs. Work is expected to start on the house next summer with new tenants in place by the end of the year.

Local Government Minister Kevin Stewart has set out new legislation aimed to simplify and improve the planning system in Scotland.

The Planning (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 4 December and will create a new structure with clearer development plans, earlier engagement with communities, streamlined procedures and smarter resourcing.

Mr Stewart said:

The Annual Implementation Report (AIR) of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) has been published.

Covering the first three years of the 2014-2020 Programme, the full report and Summary for Citizens can be viewed on the Scottish Government website.

Buildings for Biodiversity Conference

Tay Landscape Partnership (TayLP) are delighted to offer a one-day conference on 9 November 2017 to raise awareness of how important both rural and urban buildings are to the survival of key species like swifts, barn owls and bats and to explore cost effective ways to accommodate them, whilst avoiding delays to work, and complying with the law.

Who should attend
The event has been designed to appeal to professionals who plan, build, repair, maintain and manage buildings.

What you will take away

Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust’s AGM and Annual Conference

The Highlands Small Communities Housing Trust’s AGM and Annual Conference is being held on Friday 8 September 2017 at the British Legion Club in Inverness. This will be an exciting opportunity to hear from a variety of speakers about rural housing and related subjects, like community empowerment and land reform.

Community organisations that are members of HSCHT are eligible to claim expenses for one person to attend the day.

The 2017 SURF Awards are now open for entries in five categories.

The SURF Awards are open to all community regeneration projects in Scotland that are currently in place or that have been completed within two years of the closing date.

The awards:

Funding from the Scottish Government's Rural Housing Fund is helping towards the cost of new affordable housing at Findhorn Ecovillage.

A new plan has launched setting out how all those with responsibility for the Cairngorms National Park will coordinate their work to tackle the most important issues over the next five years.

The Cairngorms National Park Partnership Plan (2017-2022) will deliver the following long-term outcomes for the National Park:

Connecting the Unconnected

Being able to access the internet can open up a whole world of opportunities, however, for many in Scotland this isn’t an option.  Those who are experiencing Digital exclusion, tend to also be experiencing other forms of exclusion or isolation.  Digital inclusion is a huge challenge - and one which needs to be faced head-on to make our homes and lives better.

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