Scots unveil £175 million regeneration programme
The Scottish Government has launched a £175 million programme to support regeneration in disadvantaged communities.
Alex Neil, cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment, said the money outlined in the regeneration strategy would help to tackle poverty and deprivation in Scotland through improved housing, roads and education.
The strategy includes a new £50 million Scottish partnership for regeneration in urban centres fund set up to encourage sustainable investment, with funding that has been repaid from successful projects being used to fund further regeneration projects.
Mr Neil said: ‘The ground breaking plans published today address the economic, physical and social needs of communities in Scotland which face the massive challenges of poverty and deprivation.
‘The regeneration strategy will build on previous successes and also looks at new projects and ways of working together to enhance and support our most disadvantaged communities. This is an ambitious programme, which seeks to transform the prospects of whole communities.
‘It is not something we can achieve alone, and we will require a great deal of partnership working and cooperation to fully realise the economic potential of Scotland’s communities. Importantly, we will put the communities themselves at the centre of this process. The people affected by this strategy will be the people who put it into action.’
Alan Ferguson, director of the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland, said: ‘As a housing body we’re bound to be anxious about what housing’s role will be in these very difficult times. Regeneration, by definition, is about making interventions where market forces alone won’t reverse decline.
‘However much new sources of (mostly private) finance are being sought and embraced, there will always be the fear that housing’s ability to contribute to regeneration will be significantly compromised in the foreseeable future. This is especially so when the wider challenges of turning around failed areas mean that it may be more expensive than normal to provide housing and associated support for regeneration.’
