{"id":2141,"date":"2015-06-17T10:30:41","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T09:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abbeylandsresidents.org.uk\/?p=2141"},"modified":"2017-11-24T13:31:57","modified_gmt":"2017-11-24T13:31:57","slug":"follow-the-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/follow-the-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Follow the LEADER"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those of you not in the loop, so to speak, LEADER is a European funding programme, which is reckoned by the Eurocrats to be at the innovative end of the structural funds support programme, a very bureaucratic grant scheme intended to even out regional\u00a0disparities in the economy. It is particularly geared to\u00a0support for development in rural communities. The last LEADER programme ran from 2007-2013 and added\u00a0\u00a33.1 million to 72 projects<\/a> in the Tyne Esk LEADER area, which is an appreciable number and sum.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0new programme will run from 2015-2020.\u00a0To\u00a0secure European Funding, there is a need to prepare a Local Development Strategy and Business Plan for the Tyne Esk programme area. Midlothian and East Lothian Councils are now\u00a0consulting as widely as possible, but somehow I missed the announcement of the local workshop. Never mind, for there is an online form, commendably short and to the point.<\/p>\n

The deadline for completing this survey is the<\/span> 26th of June 2015<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is what I said, which is unusually short and to the point too:<\/p>\n

What three things do you think would most help to revitalise your local community?<\/h2>\n

1.\u00a0Regeneration of the old town and high street, which after some work a few years ago is struggling to be maintained, due to higher costs of maintenance of older buildings, few private investors willing to invest and difficulties in enforcing policies in and out of these buildings, and conflicts between residential and business uses e.g. the nighttime economy.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Regeneration of buildings at risk. New uses for old buildings require intelligent and sometimes modern solutions and quality design that is fit for the future, while retaining the character and features that make the buildings important.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0More green spaces in the heart of the town, along the lines of St Mary’s Pleasance in Haddington, or Cockenzie House, or Dunbar’s Close in Edinburgh, which is slightly more than a pocket park. A\u00a0recent audit of green space found that Dunbar benchmarked poorly, and at a guess Old Town residents fair the worst.<\/p>\n

Are there particular opportunities you see for your area?<\/h2>\n

1. Dunbar is a Conservation Area, but we are not really seeing a Conservation Premium, rather the opposite – property prices are stagnant.<\/p>\n

2. There are more old buildings of value here than just about anywhere I can think of in East Lothian, but they are decaying from the outside and the inside.<\/p>\n

3. There are lots of interesting backlands that could be rehabilitated as public gardens or pocket parks. The old and many young families who do not have gardens would benefit – they are rarely provided with social housing and many flatted developments don’t have them or they were taken away.<\/p>\n

Do you have any specific ideas for projects that would benefit your community?<\/h2>\n

1. A major town centre regeneration project which shifts the emphasis away from making it easy to park and to get away, to making the town centre a safe and more tranquil (local) tourism destination, while making it also a great place to live. Encourage businesses that are more compatible with a high residential population. Re-orientating the local economy towards sustainable forms of tourism, involving outdoor activities as well as enjoying the history, wildlife\/sea and geology.<\/p>\n

2. Some high profile renovations of local buildings – not necessarily the expensive ones – that demonstrate quality design and solutions that can be emulated by home owners, businesses and other investors\/developers.<\/p>\n

3. Rehabilitation of the backlands as community gardens and spaces, with significant formal plantings, pocket woodlands and informal spaces too. There is a plethora of child orientated play parks, but few places for the old and anyone seeking tranquillity – uses that are more compatible with the high resident population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those of you not in the loop, so to speak, LEADER is a European funding programme, which is reckoned by the Eurocrats to be at the innovative end of the structural funds support programme, a very bureaucratic grant scheme intended to even out regional\u00a0disparities in the economy. It is particularly geared to\u00a0support for development … Continue reading Follow the LEADER<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":2142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-opinion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2015\/06\/DSC_0138.jpg?fit=1000%2C602&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1016,"url":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/who-controls-dunbar\/","url_meta":{"origin":2141,"position":0},"title":"Who Controls Dunbar?","author":"Barodunum","date":"May 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"If you've ever visited Dunbar in the summer, you'll know it is the resident gull population that is in control. Local Dunbar residents share their tight living spaces with a small but significant colony of nesting gulls, which in some previous years have bred rather too successfully. Gulls are a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/topics\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gull Control Dunbar - No Parking","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2013\/05\/DSC_0008.jpg?fit=800%2C495&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2013\/05\/DSC_0008.jpg?fit=800%2C495&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2013\/05\/DSC_0008.jpg?fit=800%2C495&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2013\/05\/DSC_0008.jpg?fit=800%2C495&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":358,"url":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/are-you-covered\/","url_meta":{"origin":2141,"position":1},"title":"Are you covered?","author":"Barodunum","date":"May 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"No, you are not! Gull Control in the East Lothian Council Area is a discretionary service. For a number of years now the service has been made available on demand only, but I am not sure anyone round our way knew that. One might have guessed given the \"austerity cuts\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/topics\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2012\/05\/Gull-Season.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2012\/05\/Gull-Season.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2012\/05\/Gull-Season.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2012\/05\/Gull-Season.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2012\/05\/Gull-Season.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1204,"url":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/develop-a-sponsored-street-improvement-scheme\/","url_meta":{"origin":2141,"position":2},"title":"Funding High Street regeneration","author":"templar","date":"September 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Improving the fortunes of the High Street will not be cost neutral, and will need funding. So what are the options to lever in more finance? Whilst it is possible to recycle the money saved from unnecessary, low payoff or expensive schemes, businesses (and residents) have a limited control or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Opinion"","block_context":{"text":"Opinion","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/topics\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1200,"url":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/form-an-association-of-residents\/","url_meta":{"origin":2141,"position":3},"title":"Form an association of residents","author":"templar","date":"September 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A primary motivation for setting up a residents association might be to organise and articulate the residents' perspective, which to my mind has long been neglected on Dunbar High Street. Tenants and Residents Associations typically: keep residents informed of the issues affecting their area campaign on local issues e.g. be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Opinion"","block_context":{"text":"Opinion","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/topics\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brown-signs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2013\/09\/Brown-signs1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2013\/09\/Brown-signs1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2013\/09\/Brown-signs1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1504,"url":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/another-town-centre-action-plan\/","url_meta":{"origin":2141,"position":4},"title":"Action : Reaction – another town centre action plan?","author":"templar","date":"November 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It is perhaps not surprising that the Scottish Government's response to Malcolm Fraser's Town Centre recommendations is short on on easy answers, as the problems it tackles are quite complex - some say irresolvable, but it is commendably brief. The predictable rhetoric is all there in the Minister's opening remarks:-\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Opinion"","block_context":{"text":"Opinion","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/topics\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"towncentreactinplan","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2013\/11\/towncentreactinplan-242x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2637,"url":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/the-decline-and-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":2141,"position":5},"title":"The decline and fall","author":"@ourlocality","date":"August 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A potted history of the Abbey Church courtesy of Buildings at Risk December 1994: The church is no longer in ecclesiastical use, although roof repairs have been carried out recently as the building continues to be used for temporary non-ecclesiastical uses. September 1995: The church appears for sale. January 1999:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Abbey Church"","block_context":{"text":"Abbey Church","link":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/topics\/abbey-church\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2014\/04\/abbey_0000_Layer-4.png?fit=1010%2C725&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2014\/04\/abbey_0000_Layer-4.png?fit=1010%2C725&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2014\/04\/abbey_0000_Layer-4.png?fit=1010%2C725&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/files\/2014\/04\/abbey_0000_Layer-4.png?fit=1010%2C725&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourlocality.org\/abbeylands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}