Location: Braco and Greenloaning

CARES funding: £14,000 enablement grant

Community action plan created: November 2023

Background

The Ardoch Development Trust (ADT) was formed after the villages of Braco and Greenloaning received windfarm funds. The ADT aims to promote the talents and wellbeing of the community, while supporting projects that focus on sustainable developments in the local area.

The development of a community action plan (CAP) provided ADT with an opportunity to:

  • understand the wants and needs of the local community members and businesses
  • identify where resources may be lacking
  • gain insight to guide future allocation of funds.

Project aims and objectives

The ADT applied for funding from the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) and received an enablement grant of £14,000. This funding covered the cost of hiring a consultant from the STAR Development Group to help the project’s steering group prepare the CAP.

The goal of the project was to create a guide that outlined what the community would aim to achieve in the next five years. This plan helped ADT develop its priority projects and make representations on behalf of the community on issues that mattered most to them.

This involved a community views household survey, a community profile report and a children’s views survey from the local primary school. There was also a series of stakeholder discussions with local businesses, landowners and community groups. Finally, ADT held a community open day where results were shared and community members were encouraged to vote for their priorities to action.

Outcomes and achievements

A community-wide survey was distributed to over 450 households by 30 local volunteers, which got an 84.4% response rate. The ADT note that the overall goal of developing a CAP for Braco and Greenloaning was hugely successful. The CAP has six main themes, each with its own priorities and a guide for next steps to move forward.

Each household in the area has a hard copy of the CAP, with access to it and other supporting reports online. Community groups can also use the CAP to support development efforts and to encourage more funding.

Since the CAP’s distribution and launch, there has been a lot of positive feedback and interest from the community. Community groups are planning future improvements and new groups have been formed to tackle some of the bigger items. This includes a new walking path between the two villages and the creation of a ‘sustainable development and green resilience’ group.

The ADT note that the CAP has brought the community together in a meaningful way to work towards a common goal of helping the community of Braco and Greenloaning thrive.

The ADT also state that the project wouldn’t have been possible or achieve the same result without the support and funding from CARES.

Lessons learned

The ADT found the most challenging element of the project was time. Since most of the work relied on the efforts of local volunteers this meant that the scheduling and meeting of milestones often took longer to complete. As a result, the project took over 10 months to complete instead of the original six months planned.

However, the ADT note that the effort from volunteers was one of the most noteworthy aspects of the project, and made the process and the time it took worthwhile. For this reason, the ADT advise others considering similar projects not to overlook the value of local voluntary effort.

Published March 2025