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Application form
Please make sure you have read all the notes carefully before you start to fill in the application form. This application form can either be completed by hand or electronically - it is available on the Planning homepage at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning. Please complete all five sections. The deadline for submitting applications is 8 September 2006. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to the person who has completed this form.
1 Please provide a name and contact details of the lead organisation responsible for this work.
Name | Mindy Grewar |
Job title | Commiffee Member, (also Arts Development Officer, Aberdeensbire Council) |
Organisation | Ballater Geddes Project |
Address | Education & Recreation, Viewmount, Arduthie Road, Stonehaven AB39 2DQ |
Telephone | 01569 768353 |
Fax | 01569 765455 |
Email | mindy.grewar@aberdeenshire.gov.uk |
2 If this is a joint application, please list the other partners who had a key role. You should also inform your partners that you are nominating the project for an award.
1 local community and artists | 2 Aberdeenshire Council Planning & Environmental Services |
3 Aberdeenshire Council Education & Recreation | 4 Scottish Natural Heritage |
5 The Saltire Society | 6 Royal Town Planning Institute - Grampian |
3 Tick the category of nomination
Title of entry | Ballater Geddes Project |
Please complete the form on the following pages by providing a brief summary of the piece of work you have entered. You must also conclude with a key reason as to why you think this work merits an Award. Only the two A4 pages supplied here can be used and your text must fit within the boxes. The font size should be no less than 12pt.
The judging criteria are set out below. Please tick only the key criteria relevant to your entry:
You must describe, in your written submission, how the criteria which you have ticked relate to your project.
Description of project
The Ballater Geddes Project is a voluntary community group which has managed the following works for Bal-later, in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council and other public bodies: - Village Centre/School footpath amenities: Sir Patrick Geddes Walkway with artist-carved posts and natural history/Geddes interpretation plaques (part-designed by primary children); Geddes-themed bus shelter; art-ist-created safety gates featuring Geddes, multicultural links and school anniversary; street named in new housing estate (Sir Patrick Geddes Way); lobbying for footpath upgrades; consultation on further shelters
- Consultation with public on green space regeneration for new housing, advice on recreation area upgrade
- Project planning for Ballater Outlook Tower/webcam with online interpretation and visitor centre display
- Public & professional awareness: seminars with Royal Town Planning Institute in 2000 and 2004, website with international links and resources, leaflets, touring displays (including to Scottish Parliament December 2004), environmental art and cultural exchange project with School of Art & Craft, Calcutta
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Context - describe the background to the project
The Ballater Geddes Project is an innovative, early example of sustainable development in Commnnity Planning, established before the advent of national initiatives and allocated resources. The project is a partnership involving community members, local authority, and agencies in the area, including (at various times), Aberdeenshire Council's Planning Gain, Development Control, Recreation, Education and Landscape services, the Saltire Society, Scottish Natural Heritage, Royal Town Planning Institute (Grampian Branch), Ballater School, Ballater-Royal Deeside Partnership, the Patrick Geddes Trust, Upper Deeside Access Trust, Ballater Tourist Centre, local housing associations, Ballater and Crathie Community Council, Victoria Week festival, plus professional artists and historians. The project has sought to make use of equally diverse partnership funding, from the above parties plus Marr Area Partnership, Cairngorms National Park, Scottish Arts Council, Royal Scottish Geographic Society, and Scottish Book Trust. |
What are the aims and objectives of the project?
- Working in partnership to find solutions for community interests/needs
- Improving the built environment with community-planned amenities and public artwork
- Raising public awareness and professional knowledge about local culture, environmental issues, and town planning
- Honouring the life of Sir Patrick Geddes, polymath and "Maker of the Future", who was born in Ballater in 1854. Geddes was a scientist, educator, cultural champion and the father of town planning.
- Linking the relevance of Geddes' philosophy to sustainable development of land and society today
- Consulting and employing professionals, particularly artists, infrastructure officers and planners
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Timescale - over what timescale has the project been developed?
The project began in 1999, with the goal of delivering projects flowing from the above aims on the way to a major celebration in 2004, the 150th anniversary of Geddes' birth in Ballater. Having delivered these, the management committee continues to address the key issues. Its members individually link to new initiatives progressing the same concerns, thus extending the group's influence through Marr Area Community Planning, a redevelopment committee for the village's former environmental education centre and a cultural policy forum for Cairngorms National Park. The website, www.ballaterscotland.com/geddes, is updated frequently and attracts visitors around the world. Related projects, to install a permanent exhibition and a plaque of Geddes (formally awarded as RTPI Sir Patrick Geddes Planning Prize) in Ballater Library, to establish a prize in Ballater School for environmentalism, and to contribute to national Geddes-related activities, also continue. |
Action - explain the process and action taken
In 1999 the group formed and identified a list of community needs which could be solved through partnership working and which had affinity to the theories of Patrick Geddes, ie developing communities with regard to the social, environmental and economic needs of residents, while relating to the larger region/country. Sub-committees took responsibility for different projects, which were progressed with respect to members' strategies, particularly those of Aberdeenshire Council, Scottish Natural Heritage and Cairngorms National Park, and as resources allowed. The Geddes Walkway and other footpath amenities required assessment of pupils' and tourists' foot travel routes, lobbying for installation and maintenance of a bus shelter, school safety gate and footpath upgrades, commission of artists to design components, fundraising including Planning Gain and council budget allocations, planning permission, risk assessment, design work with school pupils, installation management of posts and plaques, publicity of new amenities, and planning for future maintenance. The Public Awareness activities required research, publication, fundraising, website management, creation of display panels, and delivery of arts, environment and multi-cultural workshops. |
Explain the role of the key partners
Communitv members and artists: consultation and awareness raising, creative design and making Aberdeenshire Council: Strategic consultation and planning permission from Planning & Environmental Services Sub-project management, funding and committee support by Education & Recreation Service Strategic consultation, funding and sub-project management by Transportation & Infrastructure Strategic consultation and funding by Planning Gain/Area Management Scottish Natural Heritage: Strategic consultation, committee support, and funding Saltire Society: archive and material resourcing, promotion Royal Town Planning Institute: planning practice context, promotion, event management Cairngorms National Park: Strategic consultation, funding |
Results - what results were achieved?
In addition to the tangible outcomes listed on page 2, question 1: - Successful and transferable model for community-based planning for sustainable development
- Effective partnership for community project management
- Wider awareness of Geddes, multicultural heritage of Deeside, and environmental issues
- Public appetite for consultation, cultural and environmental projects
Customer satisfaction with each project has been high. The Ballater school gates have been cited as a Good Practice example of Community Planning at www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/communityplanning/plan/partnership.asp. After the 2004 Geddes arts and environment week in schools and villages, a parent wrote: "Congrats on a brilliant week! I thought it was quite superb and I hope the children will retain memories of it. I thought it was very Geddesian in that it was worthwhile and enjoyable, and happened because people wanted to do it - rather than necessarily for commercial or other gain." |
Conclusion - in summary, why does this piece of work merit an Award?
Community Involvement is the heart of the Ballater Geddes Project, as it was the heart of Sir Patrick Geddes' practices in town planning. From its original goals the group has produced a number of public amenities and resources which will continue to spark interest in local planning, the environment and culture of the area. The legacies of the project will benefit Ballater for years to come and the experience and lessons learned from this community involvement are transferable to other communities. Most noticeably, modern public artwork, created with community input, now stands amid the Victorian landscape of Ballater to inspire future cooperative working and creative responses to current issues. |
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