Community Scotland

Communities Scotland, and its predecessor Scottish Homes, has been involved in the community of Gibshill for more than 10 years now.

In that time, we have changed from being Scottish Homes, a non-departmental public body, to Communities Scotland, the Scottish Executive's housing and regeneration agency. Our support for the regeneration of Gibshill and the strengthening of your community has remained constant.

So what has been achieved in Gibshill in that time and what part have we played?

Our initial involvement goes back to 1991 when we helped fund 78 houses for low-cost home ownership. It was not until 1994 however that we became involved in the development of a regeneration strategy for the area, when we worked together with our partners and also with the local community in the form of the Gibshill Steering Group. A formal regeneration strategy agreement between Communities Scotland, Inverclyde Council, Cloch Housing Association Ltd and Inverclyde Regeneration Partnership has now been in place since 1999.

Since 1991 Communities Scotland has invested £3.3 million in the area, helping to produce 195 new and improved houses for affordable rent and low-cost home ownership.

This financial year Communities Scotland plans to fund the construction of a further 20 houses for rent, through Cloch Housing Association, as part of a larger housing development that will provide around 70 homes for sale. Work is expected to begin on these next year.

However, it has long been recognised that simply building houses is not the solution and that all aspects of regeneration need to be considered. To ensure the long-term sustainability of Gibshill, further investment was also needed to complete the picture. Towards the end of 2001 it became obvious to us and our partners that renewed efforts were needed to complete the regeneration of Gibshill.

In 2002, the Gibshill Steering Group had become the Gibshill Task Group and this included a range of partners and community representatives who were looking at the requirements for completion of the strategy, including the physical, social and economic aspects of regeneration.

Through on-going discussion it was agreed that the post of a co-ordinator for Gibshill should be created and Rudy Irion was employed in February 2003 with joint funding from Communities Scotland, Inverclyde Council and Inverclyde Regeneration Partnership.

Rudy's position is central to the on-going development of Gibshill. He is bringing the community and partners together and finding out about other funding opportunities which might be used to help progress the regeneration strategy.

And so, celebrating more than 10 years of involvement in Gibshill, we congratulate the work of the local people in persevering with their hopes and dreams for their community. Our aim is to help provide safe, strong communities and we are delighted at the progress that has already been made, and the commitment shown by all those involved, to see the strategy through to completion. The main aim of the strategy is to ensure that Gibshill is a popular community where people want to live. We certainly believe this can be achieved.

Anne-Marie Thomson,
Investment Manager,
Communities Scotland