An initiative aimed at renewing the industrialised coalfield landscapes of East Ayrshire has secured more than £2.5 million of National Lottery funding.

The Coalfield Community Landscape Partnership, which aims to reconnect communities with the landscape by creating opportunities for leisure, tourism, skills and training, is in line for £2.56m of funding to tackle the environmental needs of the landscape, as well as conserving and restoring the areas' natural and built heritage.

The Landscape Partnership area covers 250sq km between the river valleys of the Lugar and the Doon and includes some of the highest levels of deprivation in Scotland. It contains 20 Special Scientific Interest sites including important blanket bog sites and breeding grounds for hen harriers and short-eared owls.

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Potential projects include;

• A trail interpreting the lost mining villages of the valleys and oral histories capturing the life of those that lived there

• Restoration works to the banks of the River Lugar

• An arts project to celebrate the history of the brass bands associated with the mining communities

• The creation of new paths to improve opportunities for walking and cycling

• Apprenticeships in landscape management

• The development of a sustainable fuel source using river rushes to create briquettes

Council Leader Douglas Reid said the £2.5m funding will allow the council to work on the details of the scheme in partnership with communities.

"We look forward to continuing this partnership work, sharing the benefits of a renewed landscape and celebrating our unique heritage," he said.

"Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to realise our ambitions, carrying out work in our coalfield communities which would not otherwise have proved possible."

Lucy Casot, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland, added: "The Landscape Partnership provides a unique framework with which to tackle large-scale environmental degradation and we have seen it work very successfully in other areas of Scotland. I am delighted that, thanks to players of the National Lottery, the communities of East Ayrshire will be able to benefit from this approach."

(LM)