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Helping communities to go greener
20/05/2009
Communities which will lead the way in the drive to make Scotland greener and healthier have been unveiled.
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon today revealed 11 low-carbon communities of the future.
Backed by a support package worth £400,000, the projects have been selected to further the objectives of the Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative (SSCI).
SSCI encourages the creation of places which are designed and built to last, where a high quality of life can be achieved and which demonstrate how we can reduce our ecological footprint.
The exemplar projects are as follows:
- An Camas Mor, Aviemore, Rothiemurchus Estate
- Craigmillar, Edinburgh, PARC Craigmillar
- Grandhome and Whitestripes, Aberdeen, The Grandhome Trust
- Knockroon, Cumnock, The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment
- Ladyfield, Dumfries, The Crichton Trust
- Lochgelly, Fife, Fife Council
- Maryhill Locks, Glasgow, Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership
- Raploch, Stirling, Raploch URC
- Speirs Locks, Glasgow, Glasgow Canal Regeneration Partnership
- Tornagrain, near Inverness, Moray Estates
- Whitecross, near Linlithgow, Morston Assets Ltd
The projects were announced at the opening of an exhibition at the Lighthouse, Scotland's national centre for architecture in Glasgow, which highlights the most exciting new ideas from the applicants.
Ms Sturgeon said:
"The Scottish Government is committed to creating an enduring legacy of high quality, distinctive new places.
"The projects selected include innovative design and building principles but they also promote environmental solutions which communities across Scotland can adopt.
"It is vital for our long term economic and social success that we create communities which provide new homes in the right place, of the right type and which contribute to reducing energy demand and impact on the environment
"The quality and number of entries received is very encouraging and I look forward to seeing how the selected projects develop going forward."
SSCI was launched in June 2008. It seeks to achieve a step change in design, quality and environmental standards of new housing-led developments, and to lead the creation of exemplar projects which provide a basis for demonstration and learning.
The exemplar projects were revealed at the opening of an exhibition in The Lighthouse, Glasgow. Hosted jointly by the Scottish Government and SUST: Sustainability in Architecture and running until the 12 June 2009, it explores the SSCI and highlights the 11 demonstration projects.