The innovative regeneration and community involvement plans for Neilston have helped scoop the town a national award.

For the Neilston Renaissance Town Charter project won the 'community involvement' award at the 2010 Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning.

The Neilston town charter is the first pilot project of the Scottish Renaissance Towns initiative. Developed over nine months, and building on several years’ work by local people, the charter sets out a 20-year vision for the village, which has been created by the community for the community.

A key element of the ‘renaissance towns’ process is building confidence and capacity, encouraging a culture of 'can do', with residents taking individual and collective responsibility for their village or town.

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When awarding the top award in the category, the judges said of the project: "The town charter process is an excellent example of how to bring together community interest groups and relevant experts in design, planning and regeneration to establish a shared vision of a town's development opportunities.

"The enthusiasm of the wide range of stakeholders in Neilston's future is clearly evident. This has enabled capacity building within the community that will help maintain the momentum of the project. The document is aspirational but not unrealistic, going further than most documents of this style to identify targets and actions for delivery in relevant timescales.

"We consider that significant progress has been made in a short period with relatively small sums of money and look forward to hearing of future successes relating to the project."

Welcoming the award, East Renfrewshire Councillor Tony Buchanan, regeneration convener, said: "The town charter project has clearly brought people in the village together and residents having a say and making their voice heard in a truly constructive way is key to future success for the village."

(GK/CD)