I’ve had the privilege of being involved in almost twenty charrettes in Scotland. And it really is a privilege, because on every occasion I gain a fascinating insight into local life and aspirations, and learn new things about community development, placemaking and making change happen on the ground. Being a planner, I’ve long seen charrettes as […]
Archive | projects
‘local place planning’ | is this what the Planning Review envisaged?
“Communities should be empowered to bring forward their own local place plans, and these should form part of the development plan.” That was one of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Scottish Planning System in May 2016 – recommendation 44, in fact. But what are ‘local place plans’? What would they look like? […]
Lessons in community empowerment: Crianlarich
It’s not often that we planners get to see a plan being delivered on the ground – not, I hope, because they are undeliverable, but because it can take years for proposals to come to fruition. So it was with great delight that I headed up to Crianlarich last week to the opening of their […]
How can planning contribute to wellness?
BEFS (Built Environment Forum Scotland) this week organised an evening seminar asking: How can the planning system contribute to wellbeing in a fairer Scotland? Alongside Alex Neil MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners’ Rights and Sir Harry Burns, Professor of Global Public Health, University of Strathclyde, I was delighted to represent RTPI Scotland on the panel. […]
Buckie harbour & Scotland’s future
Buckie Harbour was built over 100 years ago to serve the fishing industry, growing over the years to include a significant cargo industry as well. The decline of the fishing industry over the last 20 years in the UK has had an impact on the port, like many others. Although Buckie Harbour is far from […]
vacant shops on Sauchiehall Street
One of my current projects is with Glasgow City Council and local stakeholders to develop a regeneration framework for Sauchiehall Street and Garnethill in Glasgow – part of a major investment in the city centre in the next few years to make it more people-friendly. It’s a flagship project for the City Council, as well […]
Haddington youth enquiry | young people shaping their place
Haddington in East Lothian is busy co-producing the future of its town centre – building a bright future by businesses, local authority and the community working together to plan and delivery change. It’s an exciting initiative, not least because of the increasing collaboration and power-sharing that’s taking place, as I explain here. The framework for action is the vision […]
the fresh’n’lo approach to rural planning
A few months ago, I wrote about refreshing rural planning policy to encourage more rural investment, more diverse and sustainable rural economies, and thriving rural communities. Since then, respected Haddington-based surveyors and architects Chalmers & Co have taken the lead in moving this agenda forward in East Lothian. The firm spotted what they saw as a gap […]
how Haddington is fulfilling its potential
Urban Animation, WMUD, Dhu Rural and I have recently completed the Haddington town centre vision – a fascinating six month project which we believe offers a model for other town centres around the country to make the most of their assets, and get public, private and community sectors working together in a way which builds better places and […]
the Biggar Agenda | three lessons for other places
By Nick Wright on 22 May 2012 in all posts, community engagement, culture change, planning, projects
Working with Kevin Murray Associates, WMUD, Hamilton-Baillie Associates and VivID Ideas & Solutions, we’ve recently completed The Biggar Agenda: a community strategy for the next ten years. This is the third in a series of town strategies that we have prepared for the award-winning South Lanarkshire Rural Partnership‘s Market Towns Initiative, the earlier towns being Lanark and Strathaven. In each town, our […]