Issued: 30 June 2009
New Bid For Brechin Regeneration
As part of its ongoing commitment to the regeneration of Brechin town centre, Angus Council is gathering information on further properties which may benefit from renovation.
The council is proposing to submit a Town Centre Regeneration Fund bid to the Scottish Government to enable further work to develop vacant buildings and to acquire properties for future development in Brechin.
This would complement the current work being carried out as part of The City of Brechin Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) - a £2.9m five year programme of heritage led regeneration funded by Angus Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Scotland.
The council has identified the owners of a number of properties within the local plan defined town centre area which are in need of rehabilitation or have been vacant for some time. The owners have been asked whether they would consider selling their properties to the council so that the buildings can be improved and brought back into use or if they are willing to improve the buildings themselves within the funding timescale which is by March 2010.
Any other property owners within Brechin town centre who have not been contacted, but feel that their properties could benefit from this regeneration project, are being invited to contact the council for discussions.
Due to the tight timescales involved, property owners are urged to contact Neil Mackenzie on 01241 435037 by Monday 6 July.
Urging owners to get in touch in order that eligible buildings can be identified, Angus Council's convener of Infrastructure Services David May said: "I am delighted that the council is endeavouring to take forward this exciting initiative for Brechin, and I hope that we receive a favourable response from the Scottish Government. Once we have further information on whether our bid is successful, we will continue to engage the local community as we continue to seek ways to regenerate the historic town centre of Brechin.
"Competition for the funds will be tough and we cannot guarantee that all those properties identified will be eligible for the scheme, but by gathering all the relevant information on possible properties for regeneration funding, I hope that we can submit a compelling case for funding to the Scottish Government."