Additional support totalling £848,123 is being provided from the Scottish Government’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF) for a trio of flagship regeneration projects in the city.
The Leith Community Croft project is transforming a former tennis pavilion at Leith Links into a new multifunctional community hub run by the environmental charityEarth in Common.
It will be used for events, training, and promoting local food production and will receive £159,123 of the additional funding.
The Macmillan Hub in Pennywell will feature a library, an early years centre, affordable housing, and a new enterprise, workshop, learning and creative studio space to be run by the local charityNorth Edinburgh Arts.
The Hub forms part of the wider strategic regeneration of Pennywell-Muirhouse and will receive £500,000 of the additional funding, to be used to help deliver the creative space.
The project will deliver workspaces for artists and micro-businesses along with a new home for the popular Pitt Street Food Market. The project will receive £189,000 of the additional funding towards the renewal of doors and windows along with essential utilities work.
Welcoming the news, Depute Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council Mandy Watt said: “This funding is very welcome as these projects will play a key role in the ongoing regeneration and enhancement of Granton Waterfront, Pennywell, and Leith in north Edinburgh.
“The funding will help the projects in their goals to bring new jobs, training courses, and recreation opportunities to the communities of all three areas. I look forward to visiting these projects in future to see how they are benefitting local people in the years to come.”
Community Wealth Minister Tom Arthur said: “I congratulate these projects on making progress and supporting jobs, investment and wider opportunities. Regeneration of Scotland’s more disadvantaged communities is a key Scottish Government priority to help transform the economy.
“This extra Scottish Government funding will help deliver fairer and more prosperous local districts.”
People Know How and Edinburgh Palette are delighted to present the Connect Four space, a space for cross-sectoral collaboration and social innovation that is now open to new tenant enquiries from any groups or organisations looking for office space.
On Thursday 24 November, we’re opening our doors to the public for our Connect Four Open House at 1 Waterfront Avenue. All are welcome to come and get a first look at the space, from prospective tenants looking to lease desk space to those interested in learning more about the Connect Four ethos.
Located in the heart of North Edinburgh’s evolving Waterfront area, this beautiful bright space has views across the city skyline and the Firth of Forth and boasts a broad range of amenities including access to a café, bookable meeting space, break-out spaces, and more.
Within this space we aim to connect four by bringing organisations and groups together across the four sectors (third, public, academic and business). By working alongside one another, we will create an environment that is conducive to social innovation through new collaborations, opportunities and ideas that can solve social issues across Scotland.
Office Manager Alex Derbyshire said: “We’re very excited to welcome new tenants to this beautiful space and are looking forward to sharing more information about the space and our Connect Four ethos during our open house.”
Our Eventbrite is now live for you to book your free ticket.
The space will be open to visitors between 10:00am and 3:00pm, with a special session about Connect Four taking place at 10:30am.
Regeneration projects in some of Scotland’s more disadvantaged and rural communities will share more than £25 million of funding.
One of these is the Macmillan Hub in Muirhouse, which has been allocated £2 million, while nearby West Shore Studios on Granton Waterfront receives £1.73 million.
The Regeneration Capital Grant Fund will support 22 locally developed place-based projects that tackle inequalities and promote sustainable and inclusive economic recovery from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Whilst helping revitalise town centres and neighbourhoods, these projects aim to support up to 3,000 jobs, training and volunteering opportunities and reduce local carbon emissions.
Projects to benefit from a share of this fund include:
initiatives that transform historic buildings into new shared business spaces, including work to turn a disused historic building in Renfrewshire into the country’s first theatre designed for young people
a new £4 million technology hub in Shawfield, Glasgow, that will provide low carbon space for engineering development, medical, and digital research industries
a new £2.3 million Skills and Innovation Centre in Kelloholm, Dumfries and Galloway, that will create community project space and offices for third sector and small businesses
funding of £2 million to unlock investment worth £14.6 million to create a new hub in Muirhouse that will provide a nursery, library, workshops for new businesses, an expanded cafe plus six affordable homes and a revamped community arts centre
a new £750,000 centre in South Uist to promote Gaelic language, culture, music and dance
Welcoming the funding, city council leader Adam McVey said: “This funding comes as a fantastic endorsement for the work we’re doing to create equal and sustainable communities in North Edinburgh. Coming just before Christmas at a very difficult time for communities still struggling to cope with the effects of the pandemic it is very welcome news indeed.
“It will help enormously with our multi-use hub adding to our major success story in regenerating North Edinburgh. It’s so exciting to see this joint project with North Edinburgh Arts getting this recognition and endorsement. As well as a cultural hub, the funding will help provide an accessible library and quality early years care at the heart of the community.”
Depute Leader Cammy Day said: “In recent years our North Edinburgh regeneration project has brought massive positive change and a more equal and sustainable future for the communities living in the Pennywell and Muirhouse areas. It’s great to see further investment completing our regeneration at MacMillan Square.
“The pandemic is very much still with us and I’m so pleased communities in North Edinburgh have some inspiration and great news for the New Year. This further investment for our creative and community hub at Granton Waterfront enhances our £1.3bn wider Granton Waterfront project and follows on from our work with communities building new homes and facilities nearby.
“I’m pleased to see the new hub being delivered for us by Edinburgh Palette in Granton Waterfront is receiving the recognition it deserves.
Lesley Hinds, Chair of North Edinburgh Arts, said: “North Edinburgh Arts (NEA) is a multi-award winning project with strong community support and we are thrilled to be awarded funding from the Scottish Government.
“This funding means NEA can move forward with the MacMillan Hub project, in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, to provide much needed space and services for the local area. NEA recently finalised a Community Asset Transfer which brings the NEA building, land and garden into community ownership and allows for the expansion of our work, essential now more than ever, as we recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We now look forward to securing the additional resources needed to build on this important award. I want to give my thanks to the NEA Board, staff, officers at the City of Edinburgh Council, Richard Murphy Architects and, most importantly, the community of North Edinburgh for their continued support.”
Community Wealth Minister Tom Arthur said: “The last few years have been tough for us all but many of Scotland’s communities have been more impacted than others. The latest projects to benefit from the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund are working to tackle inequalities and create vibrant town centres and neighbourhoods.
“By securing investment from this £25 million fund, these innovative projects demonstrate the powerful role those in our communities can have in helping to transform their town centres and neighbourhoods by investing in their future. The Scottish Government will do all it can to support projects that help create the fairer, greener and more prosperous Scotland we all want to see.”
COSLA’s Environment and Economy spokesperson Councillor Steven Heddle said: “Once again, the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund has created the opportunity to deliver jobs, tackle inequalities and create better places across Scotland.
“The exciting projects announced today showcase the best of partnership between local authorities and our communities, delivering economic and social renewal as we rebuild from the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The diversity of projects supported is testament to the success of identifying local solutions to enable people to live well locally.
“In the face of the climate emergency, it is essential that the most vulnerable in society are not further disadvantage by climate change and I am especially pleased to see the additional focus on achieving a just transition to a net zero society.”
Matt Lammie, Chair of Kirkconnel & Kelloholm Development Trust, said: “This grant support for the new Kelloholm Skills and Innovation Centre is fantastic news and a great boost to the community of Kirkconnel and Kelloholm, in what has been a difficult year.
“Our whole community has worked hard to bring the Skills & Innovation Centre project forward and it will make a real difference to regenerating our area, connecting us to the wider world, and most important of all it will help our young people to get the skills that the need so that they can live, work and prosper here where they were brought up rather than having to move away.”
The Council has approved a lease of the premises on West Shore Road to the charity, which supports the arts by bringing vacant buildings back to life, so they can provide affordable studio space. The Council’s also supporting the project by providing a year’s free rent.
The project will provide affordable shop space for local retail and hospitality businesses, animating the pedestrian promenade. It will also support the creative industries, the third sector, freelancers and micro-businesses, providing sought after high-quality studio space.
When developed the building’s grounds will greatly enhance the public realm and greenspace in the area and will support active travel to and through the site. Other activities planned are play-based recreation and cultural events and the project will also provide improved access to the Waterfront.
Depute leader, Cammy Day, said: We announced our ambitious £1.3bn plan to sustainably regenerate this area last year and it’s fantastic to see real progress is being made on the ground.
“Our plan is for Granton Waterfront to provide quality new sustainable development and a place where people can work, play, learn, enjoy culture and live in high-quality homes. The site on West Shore Road will become a draw for the local community as well as visitors to the area, providing jobs and a boost to the local economy as well as supporting so many groups like social enterprises, sports clubs, health and wellbeing services and other community organisations.
“We’ve worked with Edinburgh Palette across the city for a number of years and they’ll make a great addition to the area alongside Wasps. I look forward to supporting them in their new enterprise and seeing all their hard work come to life.”
Development Manager at Edinburgh Palette, Andrew Chainey, said: Edinburgh Palette is delighted and extremely grateful for the phenomenal support received from everyone at the City of Edinburgh Council. Our operational team and long-term contractors can’t wait to deliver on our new home at West Granton Shore.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by interest in the project at 20 West Shore Road from all corners of the community including the creative and craftmaking world. The possibilities are as breathtaking as the views of the Forth from West Granton Shore.”
The site located on West Shore Road will form part of a growing creative, cultural and arts cluster in Granton Waterfront.
This includes the National Museums Collection Centre; National Galleries of Scotland’s Granton Art Centre (along with The Art Works, NGS’ planned new facility); Edinburgh College’s Granton campus (including its art and design faculty and the Performing Arts Studio Scotland); as well as the new 600 sqm Granton Station enterprise hub.
