Aberdeenshire Council has welcomed the announcement that two local projects will benefit from a share of national regeneration funds.

But it is disappointed at the proportion of funding secured from the Scottish Government's £60m Town Centre Regeneration Fund.

Councillors had agreed a plan to access cash for many areas of Aberdeenshire, but only two from sixteen applications have been successful.

Approximately £40m of the £60m total was awarded in this round with £436,500 being awarded to two projects in Aberdeenshire - Stonehaven Town Hall and a project in Fraserburgh to regenerate two eyesore buildings in the town centre.

Several Aberdeenshire applications were apparently rejected on relatively minor grounds, so the council is confident they can be improved and resubmitted for the next tranche of funding.

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The Stonehaven Town Hall bid was submitted by Aberdeenshire Council on behalf of community partners such as Stonehaven Town Partnership and stressed issues such as the need to make it comply with disability legislation.

A total of £297,000 will go to a project seeking to buy and repair two adjacent dilapidated properties in Fraserburgh's town centre.

The regeneration fund is providing £255,000, with around £32,000 coming from Aberdeenshire Council.

The properties have been for sale or let for several years but have remained vacant and it is extremely unlikely they would attract private investment.

The properties are highly prominent to residents and visitors, situated at traffic lights on the main route through town and reinforce a negative image.

Chairman of Aberdeenshire Council's Infrastructure Services Committee, Peter Argyle, said: "The Fraserburgh bid was outstanding in terms of the merits of the project, the impact it will have in the town and the effort and detail put in by Fraserburgh Development Trust.

"They deserve every penny of the £255,000 they've been awarded."

Aberdeenshire Council provides funding to the trust through a programme aimed at a transition from the former Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership to an independent sustainable group.

Aberdeenshire Towns Programme coordinator, Bill Clark, said: "This is the first clear evidence that such a programme can be successful in attracting funding and empowering a community.

"Fraserburgh's success shows how much they've achieved since they were founded just a few months ago."

(GK/JM)