Three Fife communities are to be given Scottish Government funding to help regenerate their neighbourhoods.
Local Government Minister Kevin Stewart has confirmed that 19 community projects across Scotland will share around £312,000 as part of the Making Places initiative, which aims to bring people together to agree priorities for their area and shape future planning and design.
The money will support events that will allow locals to work with design professionals to identify how their places and communities can be improved.
Falkland and Newton of Falkland Community Council will receive £25,175 to hold a charrette for the village, while Dunfermline and Inverkeithing will also see cash to create masterplans for both towns.
“I am pleased we received so many applications from a mixture of local authorities and community groups, keen to get local people involved in plans to improve their area,” Mr Stewart said.
“This scheme and every project supported by it creates more opportunities for communities to choose what works for them.
“Each project has its own design challenge, whether it is a plan to regenerate an area of a city centre or looking at a smaller site in a rural community.
“All of these projects should lead to improvements that will create benefit for hundreds of people.”
According to the community council, the Falkland charrette – which builds on similar successful events like the one in Lochgelly in recent years – will help locals develop a vision and design statement for Falkland and the surrounding area which will “combine spatial, social and economic strategies and solutions”.
In Dunfermline, the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust has been awarded £24,810 to host a community-led event which will develop a masterplan for a key area in Dunfermline town centre.
In Inverkeithing, Fife Council has been granted £15,000 to hold community activities which will deliver a masterplan for the town focusing on community assets, strengths, interests and values.
Elsewhere, the 19 projects awarded funding include workshops to develop physical and environmental improvements to the Woodside area of North Glasgow, creating a development plan for Scalloway in Shetland and a plan to improve a shopping centre in Wester Hailes in Edinburgh.
