Stirling Council outlines plans for delivery of regeneration strategy

Stirling Council’s Community Planning and Regeneration Committee is proposing setting up a new working group to implement its regeneration strategy.

The committee voted last week to recommend the council establish a short-life working group for four months to oversee delivery of the regeneration strategy and draw together the different strands of regeneration work already in place.

This currently falls under the remit of two council committees: community planning and regeneration and finance and economy.

Regeneration work with a focus on employment, positive destinations, tackling crime, environment and infrastructure, and health and wellbeing is already underway in the priority areas of Cultenhove, Fallin, Raploch, Cornton, Cowie, Top of the Town, Hillpark and Plean.

In Cornton, Stirling Council, the community and local businesses have worked together to plan and deliver lighting and other improvements to rejuvenate the shopping precinct and community centre.

Work is already in progress on the rural economic development elements of Stirling’s £200m city development framework and pilot projects are taking place in a number of communities to look at ways of building the capacity of those areas to lead their own regeneration.

Stirling Council allocated £530,000 in this year’s budget for social justice, regeneration and promoting economic growth.

This funding includes £100,000 for community empowerment and regeneration, £100,000 for community events, £100,000 for apprenticeships and £105,000 to tackle child poverty.

Responsibility for progressing the use of the community events money is to be delegated to the director of Communities and Partnerships, with more detailed plans for the other funds to be developed and presented to the next appropriate committee.

Stirling Council’s director of Communities and Partnerships, Stacey Burlet, said: “The range of regeneration work already taking place within the council to support our communities means there’s a unique and exciting opportunity to promote social justice and economic growth, building on current developments and sharing learning from them.

“The emphasis is very much about working with communities to identify the priorities that are important to them and the short-life working group, if approved by council, will be looking at ways of further supporting community leadership and building knowledge and expertise to promote growth at that local level.”