£100k community funding

THE PUBLIC is being asked to have their say on which projects should receive a portion of £100,000 of funding designed to “improve outcomes for the community”.

Shetland Community Choices is a new participatory budgeting (PB) scheme which allows locals to vote for five projects they think deserve extra funding.

They include footpath improvements at Da Sletts in Lerwick, a north isles family learning initiative and a ‘fair food’ project which will explore creating a local food share scheme.

The Scottish Government and Shetland Islands Council have both given £50,000 towards the budgeting scheme.

Online voting is open now and locals have until Saturday 25 March to have their say, while people can also vote via post or in person at a special event at the Shetland Museum & Archives in Lerwick the same day.

The initiative has reflected feedback from the Shetland place standard consultation which took place last year.

As a result, Shetland Community Choices leads on the four topics of community, work and economy, connectivity and the environment.

The council and the Scottish Government has also given a total of £18,000 towards three community projects in Skerries, Fetlar and Bressay.

SIC leader Gary Robinson commented: “The aim in the long term is to have at least one per cent of the council’s budget decided by a PB method and for increased community involvement to be a more routine way of working.

“This approach can really engage and empower the community in discussions on public budgets. The challenge remains for us to scale up the influence of the community over the mainstream money spent by the council.”

• To vote online, visit here.