Huntly awarded £76,869 for a CCTV system for the centre of the town from an Aberdeenshire wide fund of £1.9 million
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THE project to instal CCTV in and around the centre of Huntly is one of nine sharing in £1.9 million of funding announced yesterday.
The cash is coming from the second-year allocation of the Scottish Government Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) which is designed to support coherent investment decisions that respond to local community priorities for their places.
The award, applied for by Huntly Community Council is £76,869, the smallest of the nine.
It is believed a community CCTV system in Huntly will create a safer town centre, which will present benefits to local businesses through additional footfall, the evening economy and for social interactions.
The PBIP is expected to be a five-year programme, lasting until 2025/26 with further injections of funding to be confirmed annually to help improve local facilities and town centres and to support regeneration activity.
To be successful, bids had to provide evidence that the investment would address the needs of local communities regenerate and revitalise towns and villages, help tackle inequality and disadvantage and accelerate progress towards ‘net zero’ emissions goals.
Prior to embarking on funding applications, Huntly Community Council conducted a survey to gauge the views of local people.
The case for and against was presented in The Huntly Express and people were asked to respond yes or no. They also conducted a survey during Hairst in September 2021.
The biggest single award of £367,209 goes to Friends of Tarlair to rescue, restore and renovate the A-listed Pavilion at the outdoor pool complex and to re-open as visitor and community resource as first stage in the ambition of bringing the whole site back into productive use.
We Are Inverurie BID is to receive £110,000 to develop a new e-commerce marketplace platform, which could potentially be rolled out across Aberdeenshire to lock retail spend into Aberdeenshire.
Alford Valley Community Railway has been awarded £165,000 for phase 2 of a multi-phase programme to create a new visitor attraction and community resource by bringing parts of the old railway infrastructure back into practical use.
The project allows for the refurbishment of the engine shed and turntable along with the implementation of a range of recommendations from Zero Waste Scotland to reduce the operational carbon impact of the facilities.
Also in Alford, Friends of Haughton Park has been awarded £200,000 for a bike pump track and all ability trails in a currently underused corner of the 40-acre site. It will consist of two pump tracks and a 270m trail to help the community to engage in wheeled sports activity without having to travel to other areas.
A third award of £203,000 to Aberdeenshire Council will be used to improve the visitor experience at Haughton Country Park.
The work will include the installation of all-inclusive, accessible and solar powered interactive play equipment; an outdoor gym and an upgrade and electrification of the current off-grid park toilets.
The ultimate goal is to achieve ‘Green Flag’ park status, which is a Europe-wide recognised designation, for Haughton Park.
Other successes are, £234,000 to Aberdeenshire Council for the Clerkhill Public Realm scheme to upgrade 1100m2 of public space including new surfaces, lighting, drainage and green areas in peterhead.
Ellon Wheel Park Group has been awarded £243,790 to build a new multi-sport, multi-ability wheeled sport facility at Gordon park in Ellon.
The North East Scotland Preservation Trust is to receive £300,000 for the Fraserburgh Hotel project, converting the former Clydesdale Bank into an extension to the hotel building now completed in the neighbouring John Trail building.
Chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee, Councillor John Crawley said: “Once again we are seeing a wide range of fascinating community projects being supported by the Place Based Investment Programme which will help create more inviting, accessible and resilient attractions across the region.
"These funds will help community groups create vibrant, successful places for local residents and visitors to enjoy for many years to come.”
Vice-chair Councillor Isobel Davidson added: “In addition to the community projects which are aimed at attracting tourists to the region, it’s heartening to see schemes being supported financially which will help boost our retail and commercial marketplace.”
