The creation of a community garden in Cove is to be backed by the Stewart Milne Group as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations.
The project at the village’s Loirston Annexe Community Centre emerged as the winner from three shortlisted schemes in a public vote on social media over the past week, attracting more than 400 votes.
In September, Stewart Milne Group launched its RUBY (Regenerating Urban Back Yards) campaign to improve run-down community spaces across Scotland and north-west England.
As an award-winning homebuilder, Stewart Milne Group knows just how important community spaces are to the quality of life that people enjoy in their local areas. With the RUBY campaign it aims to help regenerate outdoor spaces and amenities that need a bit of attention and help to build stronger, better resourced communities across the regions that we work in.
Members of the public, special interest groups, charities and community councils were invited to nominate an outdoor space in need of improvement, resulting in dozens of applications from across the regions.
In the North-east three entries were shortlisted by the judges for support – a community park project in Bucksburn promoted by Bucksburn Community Council, the development of a children’s play area in Tillydrone promoted by the Parents for Play group and the development of a community garden at Loirston Annexe Community Centre in Cove.
Members of the public were asked to vote for the projects via Stewart Milne Group’s Facebook (facebook.com/StewartMilneGroup) and Twitter (@SMilneGroup and @SMilneHomes) social media channels.
Stewart Milne Group will allocate resources and support towards the winning project or provide the materials and/or people to carry out the improvements.
John Low, managing director at Stewart Milne Homes North said: “We received a great response to the launch of the RUBY campaign in the region and were able to shortlist three very deserving projects. The Loirston Annexe Community Centre emerged as the clear winner in the public vote and we look forward to working with the members of the management committee to realise their vision for the space and to create a new amenity for the community in our first RUBY project. The outdoor area has great potential to be transformed into a garden with flowerbeds and vegetable plots, where children will be able to learn about planting and growing.”
Seona Shand, chair of Loirston Annexe Community Centre, said: “Winning the public vote and becoming the first RUBY project in the North-east is fantastic news for Cove and will make a big difference to the local community. Redeveloping the outdoor area to form some green space at the Loirston Annexe will create a new amenity for all centre users of all ages and we look forward to working with the Stewart Milne Group to achieve this.”
The shortlisted projects for central Scotland and the north-west of England will be announced in early 2016.
Established in Aberdeen in 1975, Stewart Milne Group now operates across Scotland and the north-west of England via its three homes divisions. It is also a leading supplier of innovative timber systems solutions to the UK construction industry from its manufacturing facilities in Aberdeenshire and Oxfordshire.
The Stewart Milne Group is one of only 15 housebuilders in the UK to be awarded five star status by the industry this year. Its continued commitment to quality and customer care saw it awarded the top accolade by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) for the fourth year running. The independent industry award recognises the 90% customer satisfaction rating achieved across the Group’s housing divisions in north and central Scotland and north-west England.