Beautiful Scotland in Bloom
The Executive offered Beautiful Scotland in Bloom a contribution of £7,500 per year for three years for Sustainable Scotland in Bloom. This project aimed to give greater prominence to sustainable development and biodiversity - encouraging communities across Scotland to embrace principles including waste awareness, recycling, green transport and wildlife habitats. There was a New Neighbourhood Award for socially disadvantaged communities, with the intention of participation in the scheme by a locality in each of 16 council areas in 2004, 24 council areas by 2005 and all 32 council areas by 2006.
This was a change of emphasis from Beautiful Scotland in Bloom's traditional focus on horticultural provision and excellence. The project aimed to tackle issues such as litter, graffiti, flyposting and flytipping, as well as empowering communities to address the issue of poor environmental quality in our streets and developing safe and secure communities, thereby reducing the incidence of vandalism.
In summer 2004 judging of entries placed emphasis on sustainable development. Sustainable community projects came from Forres with Moray Waste-busters, Moray Master Composter Project, Forres Footpaths Trust, Forres Community Woodlands Trust and Applegrove Primary School, and from Dunblane and Melrose. Fife Council hosted a presentation of awards ceremony.
BSIB found interest in the Neighbourhood Awards from Aberdeen, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Dundee, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Fife and Highland Councils, and after judging entries in summer 2005 presented 23 awards in November 2005. The Executive offered an additional £4,000 in 2005-06 to support a seminar on the scheme in Rutherglen in March 2006, to encourage more entries in 2006. In November 2006 there were 32 Neighbourhood Awards.
One award was to ILM (Highland), a 'not for profit' training company with charitable status based at Alness which, playing a part in the Highlands Waste Strategy, aims to stop white goods, such as washing machines and cookers, entering the waste stream, refurbishing as many units as possible for onward use, largely to equip homes for people who are moving from homelessness into new accommodation. The company has installed a wood chip boiler to heat its training premises, which both provides affordable energy and helps to cut emissions.
Melrose showed resourcefulness and variety in its work relating to sustainable development. A wooded area off the Market Square was redeveloped with the help of the Criminal Justice team which re-laid paths and maintained the bridges. Brown trout have returned to the burn, and a dipper and mallards have also been spotted. The local nursery school uses the area for nature awareness lessons. The water supply for displays was from a spring well in the town requiring no energy input and not drawing on the public water supply. For the first time all council summer bedding was grown in compost manufactured from garden waste. Footpaths were improved to provide traffic-free access to the school.
Edinburgh Council put forward projects spanning travel, waste awareness, energy and biodiversity. This included the Edinburgh City Car Club - during the day the cars are used by council staff. Council staff are encouraged to use bikes through the Bikes to Work scheme. 109,000 households can recycle cans, cardboard, glass, paper and textiles from their kerbside. A seasonal garden waste collection is available to 95,000 households. There are approximately 500 on-street packaging and paper banks available in tenement areas.
The Council has carried out work to minimise water consumption across the Council's property portfolio. An energy handbook by the Council's Sustainable Development Unit promotes energy efficiency to all school users. Electricity consumption across the Council estate is reduced through energy efficient lighting and lighting controls, and improved heating controls reduce wastage and fuel bills.
Biodiversity was a category in the annual Keep Edinburgh Clean awards scheme for businesses in 2006 - won by the British Geological Survey which placed nesting boxes, insect boxes, native plants (including a hawthorn hedge) and hedgehog homes in the grounds around their office. New guidance on how to accommodate swift nesting space either in new building developments or during building restoration work has been produced.
The Rothesay Step Up Project, funded through the Community Regeneration Fund, runs education and training programmes for groups and individuals who experience or work with social exclusion. In partnership with the Bute Healthy Living Initiative, the Project's Community Garden provides the opportunity of building confidence, learning practical skills and raising awareness of environmental issues. People with no access to a garden learn what can be done in a garden or enjoy volunteering outdoors. The Project also helps to manage the town's allotment site, which includes a new polytunnel and provides fresh and locally-grown food for the Healthy Living Cafe in the town.
The Broughty Ferry Environmental Project worked with local groups and individuals on projects in an inclusive, creative and sustainable way. The Hourglass Project - drawing attention to time running out for biodiversity - supported Tayside's Sand Dune Habitat Action Plan. With loss of natural nesting sites, the group built a sand martin nesting bank in the dune area, and installed audio equipment and seating for local people to share interest in the sand martins, with two open evenings held at the nesting banks, and displays at the local library. A wildflower meadow, planted behind the sand dunes by 14 volunteers, restored habitat - with plants which would attract many invertebrate species, especially butterflies. These projects had community support, from initial discussions through to implementation, with maintenance carried out by local people committed to caring for their local environment. The opportunity to learn and share skills was vital to the success of the project.
The name of the campaign was changed from Beautiful Scotland in Bloom to Beautiful Scotland from April 2007 - to reflect attention to the themes of sustainable development and biodiversity, cleanliness and waste awareness. The Highland 2007 campaign organisers chose the Neighbourhood Awards as a vehicle for community action.
Contact
Keep Scotland Beautiful
Tel: 01786 471333