Investing in neighbourhoods to support pride in our place

A series of investments aimed at improving neighbourhoods throughout Renfrewshire have been approved by councillors.

The council budget approved for the year ahead outlined a range of measures to improve local communities with the aim of growing residents sense of pride in their place. This was identified as a priority area based on resident feedback on what matters most to them.

The neighbourhood investments detailed in the budget focus on providing residents throughout Renfrewshire with clean, modern and enjoyable open spaces while earmarking funding to support dedicated community groups continue to positively impact their local communities.

Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board, Cllr Michelle Campbell, said: “We want everyone in Renfrewshire to have a sense of pride in where they live, this is why investing in our place has been a key priority when outlining our budget for the coming year.

“By improving our local neighbourhoods and earmarking funding to support local community groups we want to create spaces residents can be proud of in order to make a difference to their everyday quality of life.

“Whether it be through our investment in play parks, improvements and enhanced cleanliness in our villages and town centres or funding to sustain the work of our dedicated local groups and volunteers, everyone in Renfrewshire will benefit from investing in our place.”

In recent years the council has made a significant investment in play parks throughout Renfrewshire with 47 play parks having been improved to date. An additional £2.1million will be invested over the next three years to fully complete this project to ensure every council play park in Renfrewshire has benefited from investment.

To further support the improvement of outdoor spaces £200,000 will be invested in sports pavilions which are in use, but underused, to encourage increased use and potential community ownership.

Public memorials are important parts of local communities, in recognition of this £100,000 will be used to enable condition surveys, cleaning and improvements of these memorials throughout Renfrewshire.

Money has also been allocated to increase the tree replacement programme to address areas where trees have been removed due to issues like disease. An additional £30,000 will also be used to investigate the potential purchase of land in the Blythswood Woods area of Renfrew to protect open green space.

As part of the budget a series of funds will be available to support community groups and volunteers who play an active role in improving their local community and shared spaces.

To address the environmental quality around tenements, flats and estates £150,000 will be invested in a community improvement fund targeting areas where ongoing issues are affecting daily life, with Gallowhill identified as priority for investment.

Local resident and member of a local litter picking group in Gallowhill, Tracey Kerr, said:

“It was great to hear that Gallowhill has been identified to receive funding. People here really care about their community, but there are definitely areas we’d all like to see looking a bit better.

“Even small improvements can make a big difference to how people feel about where they live, that’s one of the reasons we started our litter picking group – to help tidy up the area. Any support from the Council, and from local people, would make a real difference.”

Money was allocated to support the work of dedicated local community and ‘Friends of…’ groups who give their time to improve community public spaces, while £100,000 will be made available for resident associations to apply to improve play parks that they’re responsible for maintaining.

It was also agreed that money would be used to expand the work of the Community Environment Team which was established last year. The additional squad will help keep communities throughout Renfrewshire clean.