Many towns in Scotland have fallen victim to not only the vagaries of traditional industries but also outside perceptions. Making changes to those perceptions can go some way to creating a more vibrant town, which makes the most of its strengths and looks to tackle its challenges.

The Action Plan for Regeneration in Fraserburgh has been developed as part of the wider Aberdeenshire Regeneration Strategy. It recognises that the coastal town, most famous for the fishing industry of course, was in need of that additional support.

The eight-point plan drawn up in 2013 divided the ambitions for the town into eight distinct strands, each requiring expert intervention to allow Fraserburgh to develop and thrive.

These would improve the quality of life for its residents, and perhaps attract more who would enjoy its enviable location, particularly when it is just an hour’s drive from
Aberdeen city.

These eight points were: Active Fraserburgh, Enterprising Fraserburgh, Developing Fraserburgh, Fraserburgh’s Environment, Fraserburgh’s Skills & Education, Fraserburgh’s Key Industries, Retail & Fraserburgh Town Centre, and Fraserburgh’s Health & Wellbeing.

It is an ambitious strategy that cannot be achieved overnight, but Bill Clark, part of the town’s strategic regeneration team, is pleased with the progress so far. "We’re just about to publish out second annual report, but this is a project that will take many years to put everything into place. There are many aspects that will be in place long before this date, but we are giving the entire project the banner of Fraserburgh 2021. We have a small budget, about £400,000 annually but applications for regeneration funding mean that we are looking at raising £2 for every £1 of council money."

Looking at the Retail & Fraserburgh Town Centre strand, he says that many of the initiatives have come from the community itself.

"The Retail Plus scheme was a direct result of more than 30 town centre traders coming forward with ideas to attract more people back into the town centre.

"The scheme not only helped them to refurbish the shops, allowed them access to expertise that would help them compete in the modern world as shops and online, to make them more secure and sustainable."

The town centre is an important factor in any town regeneration, and an application has been made to the Scottish Government’s capital regeneration fund to refurbish and extend handsome civic buildings, not only for council use but to create an enterprise centre and areas that can be used for events.

When the strategy was being drawn up, there was some surprise at the interest expressed in sport, placing Active Fraserburgh at the top of the list. With the beach and open spaces, the town is well placed to develop its offering of outdoor and other active pursuits for residents and visitors.

  • Inverurie is conscious that its future is being built on a bedrock of an already healthy economy. The past 15 years has seen much growth in the town, as Douglas Milne, Aberdeenshire Council’s Garioch Area Manager, explains: "We have had a lot of people moving into the town," he says. "This has been partly because of the oil industry and in part people moving from Aberdeen City because of good housing, good schools and general high quality of life. So we have benefited from being quite close to Aberdeen and having good connectivity."

From Inverurie to the outskirts of Aberdeen, it’s about 25 minutes to half an hour’s drive, then as Milne says "it depends on what’s happening in Aberdeen, especially at rush hour".

The town itself is also a commuter destination for smaller towns and villages, with Inverurie Hospital, the Academy and primary school. "There is also a significant amount of business here," he adds. "There’s a particularly high number of independent retailers, shops and traders to complement the high street and chain retailers.

"The Inverurie Business Association is extremely active. We might not have been as affected by the downturn in the oil industry as other parts of the region but times are tough and many retailers are having to work very hard just to stand still. It remains a vibrant town centre though with units not staying empty for long. At the last count there were about 35 places you could go for a coffee."

Inverurie Academy is also central to the town and following consultation with traders, the decision has been made to rebuild the new academy on the existing site, not only maintaining the trade that the academy brings but adding that extra dimension of vibrancy to the town centre.

"The main issues for Inverurie are parking, transport and affordable housing," adds Milne. "There is a new development of housing out at Uryside, where there will also a primary school and a countryside park developed, but we are still falling short of our needs. There is an extremely long waiting list."

As part of the upgrade of the rail line between Aberdeen and Inverness, the section between Aberdeen and Inverurie will again be double track.

"This is a major development for us. Inverurie was the fastest-growing station possibly in the UK. We want to develop a transport interchange there, but this is on hold until the upgrading of the railway is complete. We have been working with Network Rail and Abellio to try to achieve some temporary car parking solutions."

Milne believes that the success of Inverurie going forward will be based on strong leadership from the political and business spheres and solid partnership working between these and the community.

"We have our Business Improvement District £20,000 seed funding, something that will be supported by the council but driven by the business community.

"We might not have been hit quite as hard as Aberdeen by the downturn in the oil and gas industry, but I’m sure people have lost jobs.

"We need to offer those who have been affected other opportunities and make sure Inverurie makes a solid contribution to the north-east."