Inside Track Focus Regeneration
Rebuilding Scotland
Kate Shannon Staff Reporter
A new national strategy aims to create a coherent focus for regeneration in Scotland
Regeneration is one of the keys to tackling the root causes of poverty and deprivation. According to Scotland’s Independent Regeneration Network (SURF), the ultimate point of regeneration is the wellbeing of individuals and their communities. Te Scottish Government has stated that the regeneration of Scotland’s most disadvantaged areas and strengthening local communities are “key priorities”. SURF’s chief executive, Andy Milne, hits the nail on the head with his description of the regeneration climate in recent times. He said: “In people, as in the wider world, degeneration is a natural process resulting from ageing and upheaval. Regeneration is also a natural process in which people and places grow again and adapt to a changing environment. Intervention in support of regeneration is necessary where the people or places lack the necessary internal resources to undertake natural regeneration. “In recent decades, this has become an
increasing challenge for many people and communities as their operating environment has been radically changed by forces out-with their control. Many ‘disadvantaged’ communities have developed internal support networks and projects responsive to emerging local needs but they often lack sufficiently strong bridging networks to more substantial centrally held information and resources.” In a bid to bring together the various different localised strategies and policies currently existing in Scotland, the Scottish Government today released its national regeneration strategy. Speaking to Holyrood prior to the launch,
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www.holyrood.com 12 December 2011
Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment Alex Neil said the Government felt “it was time to take stock and to have a national regeneration strategy that identified, at a national level, the key areas where we needed to focus our attention for the next 10 to 15 years”. Te strategy itself boasts a number of
impressive goals, including the vision of “a Scotland where our most disadvantaged communities are supported and where all places are sustainable and promote wellbeing”. However, this cannot be achieved unless regeneration is approached in a “holistic” way by addressing the economic, physical and social needs of Scotland’s communities.
Neil said: “Tere are some very clear lessons
[from the past] we can learn on what makes a successful regeneration strategy and what doesn’t. For example, there has been a habit in the past for governments to appoint suits to go into areas of deprivation and for the suits to tell the local people what they need to do to regenerate their area. Tey then get consultants in to do it and then after a while, leave again, very often having not made much difference to the area. Te first lesson is the community itself has to drive the regeneration. It needs help, it needs outside expertise, it needs financial resource but at the end of the day, no regeneration strategy that is not driven by the local community will
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