Tackling climate change, community food projects, remote school meal delivery and innovative building design, all feature in Argyll and Bute Council projects, shortlisted for national and regional awards.
The shortlisted awards include:
Helensburgh Waterfront Development
The only Scottish entry shortlisted for the 2023 UK Planning Awards in the Best use of Sport in Placemaking category. The development is the largest investment in sport the council has ever made and continues the decade long regeneration of Helensburgh as a waterside destination.
Partnership for Protecting and Enhancing Argyll’s Rainforest
A partnership project with Argyll and Isles Coast and Countryside Trust (ACT), Scottish and Southern Electric (SSE), supported by Argyll and Bute Council and NatureScot is nominated in the 2023 UK Planning Awards.
Partners are working together to protect and enhance Argyll’s rainforest, a unique habitat of ancient and native woodland near Lochgilpead. To date the partnership has planted 30 hectares of woodland with 10 additional hectares currently in planning.
Flexible Food Fund, school meals by drone pilot and service redesign
The Council’s Catering and Cleaning Team are shortlisted for three national Facility Management Awards (ASSIST FM) in the Innovation and Community Focus categories.
A pilot project to delivery school meals to remote and island communities is one of the awards shortlisted in the innovation category. The council is currently developing plans to create a drone hub at Oban Airport.
The second shortlisted project is for service redesign that created cook, freeze and production kitchens. This cuts down the transit time for school meals and enables the kitchen to become a hub for delivering school meals to more remote and island communities.
The council’s Flexible Food Fund launched to help support residents with cost of living challenges. Working with partner organisations and local foodbanks, the fund aims to provide financial help and access to food and fuel.
Argyll and Bute Sustainable Design Awards
Three council buildings and projects are shortlisted for the awards with public voting underway. They include, Helensburgh Waterfront, Queens Hall public realm works and Dunoon Primary School. Vote for your favourite design on the council website https://investinargyllandbute.co.uk/design-awards/
Councillor Gary Mulvaney, Depute Leader of Argyll and Bute Council:
“We’re working hard to deliver real opportunities for communities to help grow the local economy by providing innovative solutions in service delivery and design. From supporting climate friendly projects to world firsts such as the drone delivery project, our communities are the beating heart of everything we do.
I’m incredibly proud of all the hard work leading up to the award nominations and seeing how much all the individual projects benefit both residents and visitors in the area.”