Area Partnerships are working to secure a brighter future

A runined castle is evidence of the perils of being just 30 miles from the capital city – English forces burned Dunbar in the 16th century and then occupied it under Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century after the bloody Battle of Dunbar.

Later centuries have, thankfully, been more peaceful and today Dunbar is a thriving community of city commuters and their families.

The Dunbar and East Linton Area Partnership, established to provide a voice for the community and work on improvements to the area. There is an Area Partnership for each council ward, working towards fulfilling their role as the local voice of community planning, and which has recently held public meetings to identify priorities for an area plan which will be available for wide public consultation early next year. Area managers are working with the partnerships to take local project work forward.

Dunbar and East Linton Area Partnership has identified a range of projects following close work with Dunbar Grammar School. These include piloting an after-school study café and a Saturday café, working with colleagues in Enjoy Leisure to offer more frequent out of school gym times and exercise class times for teens, establishing an additional Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and engaging with young people to assess needs and develop an appropriate design brief for an improved skate park.

The partnership has been working hard to develop and finalise its area plan and work is already under way to deliver some of the projects that have been identified, including the installation of reactive speed sign sockets in Dunbar and the villages of Stenton and Tyninghame to help with road safety in these communities. The need for a further reactive speed sign for use across the area has also been identified and the partnership has agreed to fund this. Other roads-related projects currently being worked on include the much-needed replacement of lighting in the Corn Exchange close in Dunbar and the replacement of a very damaged footway on East Linton
High Street.

  • Built in the 12th century as the centre of trade and industry for one of the richest agricultural areas in Scotland, Haddington burgh sits snugly under the Garleton Hills on the banks of the River Tyne.

With its mix of independent shops and high street stores, as well as the headquarters of East Lothian Council, Haddington is still an important hub but in recent years it has lacked the amenities enjoyed in the city.

One of the issues has been accessibility to the internet, a vital necessity not just for businesses but for all residents in the 21st century. A recent survey found that 80 per cent of people were dissatisfied with their current broadband provision and 99 per cent said they would like access to superfast broadband.

As a result the Haddington and Lammermuir Partnership has begun working with Community Broadband Scotland (CBS) – a Scottish Government project – to identify the areas that could be covered. It is just one of the community-led schemes that the partnership has been working on after being set up 18 months ago, along with five other Area Partnerships in the county.

Haddington is at the heart of the partnership programme which has been developed by the council but has been enthusiastically adopted by the community.

The area partnerships are already starting to make a difference. For example in Haddington the community council worked for four years to try to provide a skate park for the younger population but had come close to abandoning the idea because of lack of funding.

This is now being pursued by the area partnership and following the success of a recent bid to Viridor Credits for £50,000, all the funding for this £108,000 project has now been secured and the skate park is expected to be ready for use by Easter 2016.

Young people have been closely involved from the start and over the summer a number of workshops were held to develop a design brief to meet the needs of skateboarders and also those who use roller blades, scooters and bikes.

"While the council is passionate about these area partnerships they are very much led by the community," said Haddington and Lammermuir area partnership manager Stuart Gibb. "People have very much got involved and the partnerships are starting to deliver real improvements to their areas."

The council has also recognised that in the current economic climate, businesses need help to grow or to become established. East Lothian Works is another partnership programme developed by the council with key partners such as Business Gateway, Job Centre, Skills Development Scotland, and local higher and further education institutions to support businesses which are recruiting and to guide individuals who are seeking work.